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Catalytic cracking of low-density polyethylene dissolved in various solvents: product distribution and coking behavior

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Abstract

Production of polymers is increasing though their disposal in an environmentally friendly manner still illudes researchers. Chemical recycling attracts attention as products obtained from mechanical recycling suffer from inferior properties. Feeding of polymers to the reactors for conversions is difficult. To address this aspect and envisaging synergistic effects during catalytic cracking, we attempted dissolving low-density polyethylene in solvents cracking of which too is desirable (tetralin, decalin, and methylcyclohexane) to obtain value-added hydrocarbons. Catalysts used include parent and desilicated ZSM-5 and zeolite Beta, zeolite Y, silica-aluminas, and slurry hydrocracking catalyst. Liquid product yields increased when LDPE was present with the solvent. Further, additional compounds over only-solvent cracking were obtained. Alkylation of aromatics was proposed to arise from alkyl radicals resulting from LDPE cracking. Catalysts were characterized by various techniques. Coke deposited for different systems was quantified and analyzed and was found to be oligomers of olefins and aromatics.

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Acknowledgements

Authors extend sincere gratitude to Dr. Ganapati V. Shanbhag (PPISR, Bengaluru), Dr. Hitesh Saravaia (CSMCRI, Bhavnagar), Dr. K. Suresh Kumar (SVNIT, Surat), and Dr. Arindam Modak (IIT, Delhi) for kindly extending their analytical facilities. They also thank Mr Digvijay for preparing figures.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, 395 007, India

    Dharmesh J. Machhi & Parimal A. Parikh

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, 462 003, India

    Bharat Modhera

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PAP: conceptualization, result analysis, arranging resources, supervision of experiments, reviewing and editing manuscript. BM: product analyses, editing manuscript. DJM: conducted experiments, result analysis, writing original draft of manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bharat Modhera or Parimal A. Parikh.

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Machhi, D.J., Modhera, B. & Parikh, P.A. Catalytic cracking of low-density polyethylene dissolved in various solvents: product distribution and coking behavior. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 25, 3005–3020 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-023-01734-4

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