Investigation of Liquid Hydrocarbons from Pyrolysis of Rubberware Wastes

The paper presents the results of studies of pyrolysis liquid (PL) obtained during high-temperature destruction of rubberware wastes, such as large-size tires of quarry dump trucks. It has been established that the pyrolysis gas consists mainly of methane and hydrogen. After pyrolysis and subsequent carbon dioxide activation, the specific surface area of the solid carbon-containing residue was 110 m²/g, and its adsorption activity for methylene blue was 83.8 mg/g. The pyrolysis liquid contains fractions similar to gasoline, diesel fuel, and atmospheric residue, enabling it to be used as fuel oil or fuel additive. In this work, the composition of nine fractions of PL, including the fractionator bottoms, formed during vacuum distillation at the corresponding boiling points was established. It has also been found that the pyrolysis liquid with a density of 882 kg/m³ at t = 40°С has a kinematic viscosity of \(\nu \) = 2.60 mm²/s, while the density at t = 20°С is 896 kg/m³ and the kinematic viscosity is 4.2 mm²/s. The flash point attains 38°С, the heating value of the PL fractions ranges from 42 to 48 MJ/kg. Chromatographic analysis of nine samples obtained during vacuum distillation of the pyrolysis liquid was performed. The fractions contained such components as ethanol and compounds of cyclohexanone, pentanone, and methanol, which can be recommended for use in the chemical industry. The fraction ignition time delay does not exceed 1 s at 700°С. It has been demonstrated that the vacuum distillation yields fractions whose boiling point is lower than that at atmospheric pressure with the difference in boiling points between the fractions being as great as 45°C.