Pirólisis del polipropileno en presencia de un catalizador de NI y NI-ZN soportado en alfa alúmina

Abstract

The production of large plastic lots grows every year worldwide, this causes environmental pollution and damage to the atmosphere and living beings, Ecuador has not implemented an efficient waste management system, which is why it is necessary to investigate alternative sources of proper reuse. In this research, the pyrolysis process of polypropylene was carried out in the presence of a Ni and Ni-Zn catalyst supported on alpha alumina. The methodology was based on an experimental investigation, the variable that was manipulated was the proportion of polypropylene fed to the Batch reactor and the amount of catalyst, carried out under temperature conditions of 400°C, -0.05 kPa pressure, with a residence time of 3h09 and 3h 48 for both tests respectively. Three iterations were carried out with both catalysts to establish the optimum properties for the process, from the test that obtained the highest yield of liquid fraction several studies were carried out where a gas chromatography test was executed where it was determined that the most abundant elements for both tests were olefins, this result is possibly due to the fact that the bimetallic catalyst did not have much incidence in the reaction, the reaction route was also found. The percentage of liquid fraction of the monometallic and bimetallic catalyst was established by means of the analysis of variance. Likewise, the API density, kinematic viscosity and ASTM distillation tests were carried out, where it probably points to the liquid fraction being in the group of light crude oils. In conclusion, the liquid fraction of polypropylene pyrolysis evidenced to be a complex mixture, however, its similarity to olefins may indicate its usefulness as a raw material to obtain petroleum products and solve the problem of waste management.