"Valorisation of shredded waste tyres through sequential thermal and catalytic pyrolysis for the production of diesel-like fuel."

Abstract

The generation of waste tyres is steadily growing daily, posing a pressing environmental challenge. This study examines the production of a diesel-like fuel derived from shredded waste tyres (SWT) through a thermal and catalytic pyrolysis approach. For this reason, tests are done in a lab-sized fixed-bed reactor to see what happens to the bio-oil yield when temperatures and times are changed. Waste tyres are pyrolysed at a temperature range of up to 450 °C. The non-catalytic pyrolysis of shredded tyres yields a maximum of 45 % liquid oil, 35 % char, and 20 % gases by weight. In-situ catalytic pyrolysis has been carried out with 10 % FeO and 10 % Al2O3. Catalytic pyrolysis with FeO (49 % by weight) and Al2O3 (47 % by weight) gives the most oil. The physicochemical properties such as density, viscosity, and the higher heating value (HHV) of the distilled oil are analysed to value its applications, and they reveal similarities to conventional diesel fuel. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to look at the oil that was distilled from thermal and catalytic pyrolysis and see what it was made of. The results showed that catalytic pyrolysis increases the production of aromatic hydrocarbons.