Insights into pyrolysis of waste tire in fixed bed reactor: Thermal behavior

Abstract

This study examines the thermal behavior of pyrolysis products of waste tire. The pyrolysis of solid waste tire was conducted under N2 atmosphere in a lab-scale fixed bed reactor. Three different factors were investigated, which were the operating pyrolysis temperature (300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C), particle size (80, 40 and 18 mesh size of particles) and carrier gas flow rate (1 and 5 L/min). The optimized liquid product yield was obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C for a feedstock of 80 mesh size waste tyre, with a carrier gas flow rate of 5 L/m. The waste tire pyrolysis oil was then characterized via fuel properties determination, elemental, FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. The fuel properties of the tire pyrolysis oil encourage the product as a potential replacement of conventional liquid fuel. The analytical results of the optimized pyrolysis oil showed that the liquid product consists of the complex mixture of C5-C16 organic compounds, with high contents of light hydrocarbon benzene, toluene, xylene and limonene. The present research is a promising approach for an alternate, renewable energy and better environment in the future.