Abstract
In this work, chemical recycling as an alternative to conventional end-of-life treatments was studied. Two different types of end-of-life tires (ELT), truck tires and mix tires (50:50 mixture of passenger car and truck tires), were pyrolyzed in a batch microwave reactor. The influence of specific power (10, 20, and 30 W/g) on mass distribution was analyzed. The maximum liquid yield was attained at 10 W/g, while the maximum gas yield is obtained at 30 W/g. Liquid fractions were characterized by gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/qMS) to identify the main components, and major compounds were quantified. In all samples, limonene (3.76 ± 0.31–6.80 ± 2.37 wt. %) and BTEX (3.83 ± 0.20–1.19 ± 2.80 wt. %) were the main components. Major limonene concentration is obtained in oil produced from truck ELT while higher yields of aromatic compounds are obtained from mix ELT. The maximum BTEX concentration is obtained at 10 W/g being toluene the main compound with a concentration of 2.07 ± 0.42 and 4.63 ± 1.29 for truck and mix ELT, respectively. The separation and purification of these compounds will confer important value to these fractions. Higher yields of the solid fraction are produced when mix tires are pyrolyzed due to the higher concentration of ash in this type of ELT. Recovered carbon black was characterized by measuring the surface area.
Highlights
The recycling and recovery of end-of-life tires (ELT) is very important for the application of the Circular Economy model, as it allows a waste (ELT) to be transformed into a source of material and energy resources
Two different types of end-of-life tires were pyrolyzed in a batch microwave reactor
The maximum liquid yield is reached at 10 W/g with values of 28.47 ± 1.62% and 38.28 ± 0.96% for mix and truck ELT, respectively
Summary
The recycling and recovery of end-of-life tires (ELT) is very important for the application of the Circular Economy model, as it allows a waste (ELT) to be transformed into a source of material and energy resources. Chemical recycling would be a promising alternative to open new recovery opportunities, and obtain products with potential applications as raw materials for the chemical industry or in the synthesis of new materials In this context, pyrolysis is postulated to be one of the most advantageous techniques for the chemical recycling of tires [4]. The gaseous fraction is mainly composed of H2, CO, and CO2 and lowmolecular-weight organic compounds such as ethylene, acetylene, or propylene and has a high heating value, 42–49 MJ/kg [16,17] This fraction can be used as an energy source in the pyrolysis process or as a raw material in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis [18,19]. The characterization of the liquid and solid fractions obtained is performed to determine their potential applications as sources of resources for obtaining high-added value products. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was carried out using a TGA 2 Excellence System equipment (Mettler Toledo, Columbus, Ohio, OH, USA) with a temperature rate of 5 ◦C/min from 20 ◦C to 1000 ◦C in N2 atmosphere
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