Catalytic conversion of waste plastics for recovery of high-quality gasoline range hydrocarbons over nano Cu/CuO/Cu2O @Y zeolite

Catalytic pyrolysis of municipal polymer waste can serve as a practical and beneficial solution to prevent the burial of plastic waste in landfills by converting them into gasoline. In this study, the key properties of gasoline, including density, viscosity, cloud point, pour point, flash point, octane number, and aniline point, were determined and compared with the standards set for gasoline. Furthermore, to enhance the quality of the produced fuel, silica-alumina in amorphous and semi-crystalline states, and zeolite Y, were used as catalysts. Additionally, a mixture of copper metal and its one and two valence oxides obtained from an organic metal framework was deposited onto a support. Ultimately, the operational temperature of the fixed-bed catalytic reactor increased from 400 to 500 °C, and for each temperature, all properties of the produced gasoline were measured and compared with standard values to determine which catalyst and at what temperature can produce gasoline capable of meeting transportation industry standards and replacing petroleum-derived gasoline. The maximum octane number for gasoline produced using a fully crystalline catalyst was measured to be 97, indicating its high quality as the most critical factor in determining gasoline quality.