Synthesis and Characterization of Fuel Oil Produced by the Catalytic Pyrolysis of Used Tyres

The effective solid waste management and transformation of wastes to useful products have been utilized. In this study, the catalytic pyrolysis of disposed tyres using NaOH Catalyst, in a pilot scale continuous stirred tank reactor was carried out. The  experiment was carried out at varying operating conditions, from which the optimum yield of 52.075 % of fuel oil was achieved at the decomposition temperature, heating rate and the catalytic concentration of 700 oC, 40 oC/min and 12.5 % respectively. The characterization of the produced fuel oil properties compared favourably with that of conventional diesel fuel with heating value of 42.407 MJ/kg, within the standard range of 42 – 44.5 MJ/kg and the Cetane number of 48.511 falls within the recommended range. Furthermore, the FTIR analysis showed that the pr0duced 0il c0ntained c0mplex mixture 0f comp0unds with C6 – C18 carb0n 0f paraffins, naphthenes, 0lefins, and ar0matics c0mp0und that are f0und in standard conventional diesel fuel. The GC-MS analysis showed 84.4325 area-percentage of 41 hydrocarbon compounds comprising of 30.24 % Aromatics (Benzene, Tuolene and Xylene Compounds), 32.43 % Paraffin, 30.52 % non-saturated Alkenes and Alkynes compounds, 6.68 % sulphuric compound and 0.13 % of Nitrogen compound. Catalytic pyrolysis with NaOH is capable of converting disposed tyres to a valuable product that has the potential to be used as an alternative source of energy, could also be used as reformate or even blended with conventional fuel.