Obtención de combustible mediante pirólisis térmica a partir de polipropileno reciclado.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to obtain fuel through a thermal pyrolysis process using recycled polypropylene, sampled plastic in recycling companies belonging to the city of Riobamba as raw material. This chemical recycling was carried out in a range of temperatures between 350-450°C and to analyze the effect of temperature on the performance of the final products, three repetition tests were carried out at five specific temperatures: 350, 375, 400, 425 and 450°C. The experiment was carried out in a batch reactor, with a neutral atmosphere of nitrogen injected through a set of valves, as a cooling system water was used at 10°C and each of the tests operated with residence time of 15 minutes transforming 200g of polypropylene into solid, liquid and gaseous products. For the analysis of the liquid fraction, FT-IR spectroscopy techniques, determination of total hydrocarbons and fuel tests were applied. The result of the pyrolysis was an oil composed of paraffins, olefins and naphthenes, of high calorific value, 47103.79 kJ/kg. The highest liquid yield was 47.23% obtained at 375°C, however it was determined that the optimum temperature of the pyrolysis is at 400°C a greater amount, about 65.7%, of light hydrocarbons included between C6-C20. Thus it was found that pyrolysis at high temperatures greatly favors the formation of gaseous products. It is recommended to conduct studies focused on other process variables to analyze a possible improvement in the final oil yield.