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Reviewing the use of zeolites and clay based catalysts for pyrolysis of plastics and oil fractions

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Abstract

Polymeric plastic materials have revolutionized industry due to characteristics such as lightness and versatility. However, its large-scale production and consumption has generated a large amount of this waste which causes a huge environmental impact. The oil industry's production chain is responsible for meeting society's energy demands and also contributes strongly to generation of wastes, such as oil sludge, containing high content of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The interest in use pyrolysis process has been continuously increasing due to its ability of convert these wastes into fuels and raw materials for petrochemical processes. The employment of catalysts, mainly aluminosilicates such as zeolites and clays, favors the use of lower temperatures during pyrolysis process and greater selectivity in the distribution of products, due to their acidity and porosity properties. Zeolites with mesoporous or zeolites submitted to structural modifications, such as desilication and dealumination, favored cracking of macromolecules with generation of lighter aliphatic hydrocarbons in gasoline and diesel ranges and lower proportions of aromatics and gases. Similar results were obtained using modified clays by acid treatment, such as K10®. Pillared clays with metals, such as Iron and Aluminum, also achieved good selectivity for compounds in fuel ranges due to its weaker acidity and presence of mesopores. In addition, at lower temperatures, the formation of polycyclics aromatics hydrocarbons (PAHs) is minimized, making the process more sustainable. Future trends in pyrolysis with clays and zeolites follow towards improvements of these modifications to obtain higher selectivity to hydrocarbons in fuels range.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) by financial support. We would like to thank Marcos José Ferreira in memoriam for his contributions writing this review.

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This is funded by CAPES, Finance Code 001.

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Correspondence to Ana C. S. Serra.

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Serra, A.C.S., Milato, J.V., Faillace, J.G. et al. Reviewing the use of zeolites and clay based catalysts for pyrolysis of plastics and oil fractions. Braz. J. Chem. Eng. 40, 287–319 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-022-00254-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-022-00254-2

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