An experimental study on catalytic cracking of polyethylene and engine oils

Abstract

The utility of plastics and engine oils is very important due to their wide application in the packaging and automotive industries respectively and as such their continued use has led to an in increase in plastics and oil waste. However, the huge amount of plastic and engine oil waste produced may be treated with thermal catalytic methods to produce fossil fuel substitutes. In this research, the co-processing of polyethylene resin with petrol engine oil into high value hydrocarbons using thermal catalytic cracking (consisting of initial pyrolytic stage followed by a catalytic reforming stage) was investigated. Plastic resins and petrol engine oil were loaded in the thermal reactor and HZSM- 5 zeolite catalyst placed in the catalytic chamber. The system was purged with nitrogen at temperatures between 400 and 520℃. The resulting products were compared with those obtained in the absence of a catalyst.