Electric arc pyrolysis of different fractions derived from waste tire pyrolysis oil

Abstract

The paper reports the experimental results on extraction and characterization of different fractions (light (<180 °C), middle (180–350 °C), and heavy (>350 °C)) derived from pyrolysis oil of waste tires of mining vehicles, followed by their electric arc pyrolysis in order to produce nanosized carbon material. The released gas was found to contain 20.4–37.1 vol% hydrogen, 7.4–24.9 vol% methane, and 24.7–27.9 vol% carbon monoxide. The carbon material obtained was presented by an array of nanosized particles (30–250 nm) with a graphite-like structure and a wide range of specific surface area values (Ssf = 38.8–79.7 m2/g). The content of carbon and sulfur was 98.3–99.1 wt% and 0.1–0.3 wt%, respectively. Transmission electron microscopic analysis of the test samples revealed two types of carbon nanostructures of different morphology: polyhedral graphite and carbon nano-onions. Characteristics of the samples obtained from pyrolysis oil and its fraction with a boiling point exceeding 350 °C were the closest to those of carbon black.