Liquid oils produced from pyrolysis of plastic wastes with heat carrier in rotary kiln

The conversion of plastic waste to energy product is a promising solution to both energy shortage and environment pollution. In this study, plastic wastes were pyrolyzed in a rotary kiln to recover liquid oils that could be used as the source of valuable chemicals or fuels. The effects of filling ratio of heat carriers, and plastic wastes types on the product spectrum were investigated. The dynamic models of heat carrier in pyrolysis of plastic wastes showed that the suitable filling ratio of heat carrier for oil production is 15%. The liquid oils generated from a simulated mixture of plastic wastes pyrolysis had the most gasoline range hydrocarbons and reached to 89.1%. The simulated distillation of liquid oils showed that the gasoline fraction was between 49% and 84.5%. The NMR analysis of liquid oils obtained from polyethylene and a simulated mixture of plastic wastes pyrolysis showed that loading more heat carrier in the rotary kiln was favorable to produce olefins and paraffin. The NMR analysis and the heat carrier models revealed that the greater heat transfer enhanced the H+ transfer in radical reactions.