Coprocessing of low concentration waste plastics and scrapped tires pyrolysis oil in the FCC Advanced Cracking Evaluation laboratory unit

Abstract

The research focused on the coprocessing of RFCC standard feedstock (SF) with waste plastics (WPPO) and scrapped tires (STPO) pyrolysis oil at concentration of 5 and 10 wt% and the possibility to use a Kayser ACE laboratory unit for this purpose. WPPO represented a high value FCC feedstock in terms of fractional and group composition and impurities content, with the exception of high nitrogen content (10200 mg kg−1). On the other hand, STPO contained high concentrations of aromatics (87.7 wt%), sulfur (9900 mg kg−1), iron (73.6 mg kg−1), and microcarbon residue (3.8 wt%). The sample conversion for a given catalyst-to-sample ratio, gasoline yield, and coke formation were the parameters most sensitive to the presence of pyrolysis oil in the FCC feedstock. The WPPO coprocessing was trouble-free, with only slightly worse results than for SF because of the high nitrogen content. In contrast, STPO coprocessing worsened the parameters of the FCC unit. Therefore, increased attention should be paid to coprocessing of such a feed. The addition of 5 and 10 wt% of pyrolysis oil can be clearly identified using an ACE unit. Due to the catalyst-to-sample ratio of 3–9, the research included cracking severity common to FCC operating units. Therefore, the result can be well scaled up to WPPO and STPO coprocessing in FCC operational units.