Pirólisis de plásticos de polipropileno con el uso de un nanocatalizador de óxido de hierro con Zeolita

Abstract

Plastic pollution is an important environmental problem at a global level, since this material is not biodegradable and remains in the environment for several years before decomposing, for this reason alternative recycling methods such as catalytic pyrolysis are being sought. To solve this problem, a suitable plastic such as polypropylene and a nanocatalyst based on ZSM-5 zeolite with iron oxide nanoparticles were chosen. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of the hydrocarbon through the analysis of the fractions obtained. Three treatments were carried out with 1, 3 and 0 grams of nanocatalyst, which were repeated three times to guarantee the reproducibility of the results. During the tests, a vacuum pressure of -0.05 MPa was used in a tubular Batch reactor in intermittent mixing after a purge with Nitrogen at a reaction temperature of 450ºC. Once this temperature was reached after one and a half hours, the fractions were collected after completing the reaction for their characterization. In the liquid fraction, gas chromatography techniques (GC-MS), FT-IR spectrometry, API degrees, density, viscosity, ASTM distillation and TPD acidity of the catalyst were analyzed, and an ANOVA analysis was performed for each of them. It was concluded that the use of the nanocatalyst favors the reduction of the reaction time when compared to the fuel without catalyst, in the FTR tests there is more percentage of alkenes for the first treatment, while in the distillation curves, those belonging to the treatments with nanocatalyst have a behavior similar to diesel orienting to obtain products with a higher molecular weight, even so the fuel obtained lacks the required characteristics and its functionality is rather directed to use it as an additive.