The Effect of Red Mud on the Liquefaction of Waste Plastics in Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of red mud on the decomposition and dechlorination of waste plastics. Thermal and catalytic degradation of a mixture of municipal waste plastics (MWP) and heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) into fuel oil was carried out by a one-step and a two-step process. One-step processing was performed at 430 °C by stepwise pyrolysis. Red mud (RM) was used as a dechlorination catalyst. In two-step processing, degradation in the presence and absence of solid acid catalyst (silica−alumina, SA1) was carried out at 430 °C followed by dechlorination in a flow-type fixed-bed reactor at 350 °C over RM. Copyrolysis of MWP with HVGO led to a synergic effect, increasing the liquid yield. TR99300 had a good dechlorination effect in two-step processing, however it was not effective for MWP/HVGO mixture. In both processes, RM was very effective in the sorption of both inorganic and organic chlorine compounds. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) formation from the degradation of poly(vinyl chl...