Research Progress in Fuel Oil Production by Catalytic Pyrolysis Technologies of Waste Plastics

Abstract

Improper disposal of waste plastic has caused serious ecological and environmental pollution problems. Transforming plastics into high value-added chemicals can not only achieve efficient recycling of waste plastics, but is also an effective way to control white pollution. The catalyst selectively breaks the C–C bond of polyolefin plastic under heat treatment and converts it into liquid fuel, thus realizing sustainable recycling of plastics and has a good development prospect. This review provides a detailed overview of the current development of catalytic pyrolysis, catalytic hydrolysis, solvent decomposition, and supercritical hydrothermal liquefaction for cracking plastics to make fuel oil. The reaction mechanism, influencing factors, and promoting effects of catalysts in various degradation technologies are analyzed and summarized, and the latest proposed tandem reaction for degrading plastics is briefly introduced. Finally, some optimization paths of waste plastic pyrolysis to fuel oil technology are proposed: synergies between mixed raw materials, in-depth exploration of catalysts, design and manufacture of reactors that match the pyrolysis technology. All these are important research directions for promoting the industrialization of plastic pyrolysis to fuel oil.