Municipal plastic waste recycling in fluid catalytic cracking units: Production of petrochemicals and fuel in an fluid catalytic cracking pilot plant from biogenic and recycled feedstocks

Abstract

Decarbonization of industrial plants and integration of plastic wastes into a circular economy are increasingly finding their way into government strategy outlooks and actual legislation. By utilization of existing industrial processes for co-feeding of biogenic and/or recycled feedstocks the financial entry barrier to more sustainability in crude oil refineries could be lowered. Via usage of canola oil, together with syncrude derived from pyrolyzed plastic wastes, in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) pilot plant the suitability of these feedstocks for co-feeding was confirmed. The experimental work was conducted on a continuously operating FCC pilot plant located at Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien). Maintaining an average cracking temperature of 550°C and a feeding rate of 2.5 kg/h, pure canola oil and three canola oil/ pyrolysis oil ratios (5, 10 and 20 %wt pyrolysis oil admixture) were processed. The results showed increased gasoline, olefin, and coke yields whilst co-feeding reduced the non-olefinic gas, light cycle oil and residue yields.