Oxidative Fast Pyrolysis of High-Density Polyethylene on a Spent Fluid Catalytic Cracking Catalyst in a Fountain Confined Conical Spouted Bed Reactor
Santiago Orozco, Gartzen López, Mayra Alejandra Suarez, Maite Artetxe, Jon Álvarez, Javier Bilbao, Martı́n Olazar
Abstract
. The influence of an oxygen presence in the pyrolysis reactor was analyzed in detail, with special focus on product yields and their compositions. Operation under oxidative pyrolysis conditions remarkably improved the FCC catalyst performance, as it enhanced the production of gaseous products, especially light olefins, whose yields increased from 18% under conventional pyrolysis (ER = 0) to 30% under oxidative conditions (ER = 0.1 and 0.2). Thus, conventional catalytic pyrolysis led mainly to the gasoline fraction, whereas light olefins were the prevailing products in oxidative pyrolysis. Moreover, the oxygen presence in the pyrolysis reactor contributed to reducing the heavy oil fraction yield by 46%. The proposed strategy is of great relevance for the development of this process, given that, on one hand, oxygen cofeeding allows solving the heat supply to the reactor, and on the other hand, product distribution and reactor throughput are improved.