(691e) Liquid-Fed Pyrolysis (LFP) to Upcycle Waste Polyolefins to Petrochemicals, Lubricants and Fuels

Although pyrolysis is effective in converting polyolefin waste plastics to a range of hydrocarbon products, such as wax, oil, and gas, the presence of contaminants in the waste plastics stream for recycle that is fed to pyrolysis is a challenge. One challenge is in the ultimate generation of impurities, derived from these contaminants, within the hydrocarbon products from the pyrolysis process, such as heteroatoms (oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorine) and trace metals (Si, Al, Ca, Na, K, Fe, etc.). These impurities, in sufficient quantities, reduce the value of the pyrolysis hydrocarbon products in the market by making the pyrolysis products more difficult or impossible to further upgrade within petrochemical facilities for production of new polymers or other high value products. If the contaminated pyrolysis products were further processed, these steps would include expensive catalytic conversion such as hydrotreatment followed by a series of separation steps.

Contaminants include plastic resin types that are not desired for pyrolysis, such as PET, PVC, nylon and other polyamides, and polycarbonates, in addition to paper and cardboard, multilayer packaging, wood, yard trimmings, metal, glass, soil, and food contact materials. These contaminants are commonly found in municipal solid waste and in materials collected for recycling. One effective technology for eliminating these contaminants is advanced sensing and sortation, however, even with state-of-the-art technology, some level of contamination will remain. In this presentation, we will demonstrate that the LFP process is effective in removing feed contaminants prior to pyrolysis by eliminating up to 90% of the undesired contaminants from entering the pyrolysis reactor. In addition, this presentation shows data on improved product quality using analytical methods including gc/ms, FTIR, elemental analysis, and others. A range of high value products such as industrial wax, synthetic lubricant base oil, and gaseous hydrocarbon fuel will be shown and discussed.