Catalytic degradation of the mixed polyethylene and polypropylene into middle distillate products

Mixture of polymers (HDPE/LDPE/PP) was pyrolyzed over a silico-alumina catalyst using a laboratory semi batch reactor operating isothermally at ambient pressure. The experiments discussed in this work show that the use of catalyst provides proper selectivity in the liquid product distributions and improves the yield of light hydrocarbon productions. The liquid samples were analyzed using GC/FID to find out their composition. The liquid collected at optimum condition (420 °C, 40 cat/pol ratio) was distilled at different temperatures to discretize light and heavy fractions. Octane number, color, Reid vapor pressure, specific gravity, and density are further analyses which done to determine extra physicochemical properties of the liquids at optimum reaction condition. Also, results compared with the physical properties of commercial gasoline which imply that the liquid somewhat matches with standard gasoline. By using Arrhenius’s law, a kinetic model at optimum reaction conditions has been developed and activation energy determined. The reaction follows the first-order kinetic rate relationships. This model equation gives a suitable match with experimental results.