Kinetic Modeling of the Hydrotreating and Hydrocracking Stages for Upgrading Scrap Tires Pyrolysis Oil (STPO) toward High-Quality Fuels

Abstract

The upgrading of scrap tires pyrolysis oil (STPO) has been studied in order to produce high-quality alternative fuels, conceived as the second and third stage of an industrially orientated valorization pathway for tires: pyrolysis, hydrotreating, and hydrocracking. The experiments have been carried out in a fixed-bed reactor under the following experimental conditions: (i) for hydrotreating: NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst; time on stream (TOS), 0–8 h; 300–375 °C; 65 bar; H2:oil ratio, 1000 (v/v); space time, 0–0.5 gcat h gfeed–1; and (ii) for hydrocracking: PtPd/SiO2–Al2O3 catalyst; TOS, 0–6 h; 440–500 °C; 65 bar; space time, 0–0.28 gcat h gfeed–1; H2:oil ratio, 1000 (v/v). From the results, lump-based kinetic models have been established for both stages, considering the reactions of (i) hydrodesulfurization (HDS), (ii) hydrocracking (HC), and (iii) hydrodearomatization (HDA) in each one of them. Catalyst deactivation is insignificant in the hydrotreating stage but important for the hydrocracking stage. Therefore, d...