High Temperature Pyrolysis of Municipal Plastic Waste Using Me/Ni/ZSM-5 Catalysts: The Effect of Metal/Nickel Ratio

Mohammed Al-Asadi,Norbert Miskolczi

doi:10.3390/en13051284

Abstract

This work is dedicated to the high temperature pyrolysis of municipal plastic waste using Me/Ni/ZSM-5 catalysts. Catalysts were synthetized by wet impregnation. In addition to nickel, synthetic zeolite catalysts contain calcium, ceria, lanthanum, magnesia or manganese. Catalysts were prepared and tested using 0.1, 0.5 and 2.0 Me/Ni ratios. Catalyst morphology was investigated by SEM and surface analysis. Higher concentrations of second metals can block catalyst pore channels due to the more coke formation, which leads to smaller surface area. Furthermore, the chemicals used for the impregnation were among the catalyst grains, especially in case of 2.0 Me/Ni ratios. For pyrolysis, a horizontal tubular furnace reactor was used at 700 °C. The highest hydrogen and syngas yields were observed using ceria- and lanthanum-covered catalysts. The maximum production of syngas and hydrogen (69.8 and 49.2 mmol/g raw material) was found in the presence of Ce/Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst with a 0.5 Me/Ni ratio.

Highlights

At present, vast amounts of plastics waste are produced annually due to high demand of plastics for various applications
Most plastic wastes are treated by landfilling or incineration, which contributes to increased pollution by releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere [3]
Each piece of plastic waste was investigated by FTIR, and the type of plastic was determined based on its infrared spectra

Summary

Introduction

Vast amounts of plastics waste are produced annually due to high demand of plastics for various applications. Most plastic wastes are treated by landfilling or incineration, which contributes to increased pollution by releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere [3]. Energy consumption, especially for transportation, residential and industry, has increased [4]. These mainly rely on non-renewable sources for energy such as fossil fuels, natural gas, oil and coal. Hydrogen promises high potential for energy applications and may play an important role in future energy systems because it could replace fossil energy sources due to its clean burning qualities [5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion