Co-cracking of jatropha oil, vacuum residue and HDPE and characterization of liquid, gaseous and char products obtained

Abstract

Co-processing of jatropha oil (JO), vacuum residue (VR) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) were investigated to determine the behavior of the individual and blended mixture under atmospheric pressure and thermal heating conditions. A fixed bed tubular batch reactor was used for the experimental study under nitrogen atmosphere with a nitrogen flow of 120ml/h. Higher conversion of the reactant mixture was observed with the formation of liquid, gases and residual char. The co-cracking/co-processing of the JO, VR and HDPE showed synergism in their co-cracking reaction. The liquid products obtained from the co-cracking of JO, VR and HDPE were mostly aliphatic in nature. The cracked liquid obtained from the co-cracking reactions showed the presence of mainly diesel range hydrocarbons, though cracked liquid of VR+HDPE and JO+VR+HDPE showed the presence of about 22% gasoline range hydrocarbons. The gaseous products obtained consisted of methane, n-pentane, n-butane, iso-butane, 2-methyl butane and certain uncondensed components. The chars obtained indicated the presence of metals such as Ni, Fe, V, Mg and K. The overall results indicate the existence of interactive reactions between the reactive moieties generated, when JO, VR and HDPE were co-cracked together.