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Chemical Plastics Recycling

Upgrade pyrolysis oil from recycled plastics or biomass

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Chemical recycling helps to reduce landfill and the leakage of plastics into the environment. This renewable carbon feedstock replaces fossil feedstock and enables the chemical industry to produce virgin polymers without compromising end-product quality; hence reducing CO2 emission.

Pyrolysis is the most common used technique to crack waste polymer molecules and produce a liquid fraction called Pyrolysis Oil or PyOil.

Before pyrolysis oil can be used, it needs upgrading to remove impurities like e.g. oxygen, halogens, metals and nitrogen. These elements poison downstream catalysts and cause plugging or corrosion. Pyrolysis oils are very diverse in properties and composition meaning extensive testing is needed.

Reducing these contaminants below acceptable limits, PyOil upgrading, can be divided into the following steps:

  • Stabilization
  • Removing contaminants via adsorption
  • Removing contaminants via catalytic hydro treatment
  • Boiling point adjustment

Developing or selecting suitable adsorbents and catalysts, process optimization and quality control requires a lot of down scaled screening tests.

Developing or selecting suitable adsorbents and catalysts, process optimization and quality control requires a lot of down scaled screening tests.Avantium offers down scaled parallel test solutions addressing today’s R&D needs with regards to PyOil upgrading. We help you with:

  • Accurately compare catalysts and operating conditions
  • Operate with small volumes – limited feed supply
  • Handle pyrolysis-oil feeds: viscous, unstable, do not mix with fossil-based oils
  • Handle water produced in process – separation of products

Established work flow

At Avantium we have established a workflow

for safely working with PyOil that consists of 3 steps:

  1. Parallel screening tests in batch mode
  2. Pump feasibility test (flow)
  3. Parallel screening tests in flow mode

 

Batch Screening

Using Avantium’s high temperature high-throughput Batch platform, many adsorbents, catalysts and conditions can be quickly screened.

Avantium’s high temperature high-throughput Batch testing unit is specifically designed to screen corrosive materials under high temperature, pressure and inert or reactive conditions.

  • 12-24 x 2 mL reactors
  • Up to 280°C
  • Up to 100 bar
  • Inert or reactive atmosphere
  • Liquid and solid removal agents
  • Catalyst and adsorbent screening
  • Offline analysis of treated liquid

Focus areas: ‘Contaminant removal, Stabilization, Mild hydrogenation’

Flow test

Consecutively or in parallel to the batch tests, viscous or instable PyOils can be exhibited to stability flow tests to assess the behavior under flow conditions and select the optimal feed configuration (for example the type of pump, temperature, inert gas).

Finally, based on the derisking batch and pump stability experiments, the high-throughput flow experiments can be custom-made designed, built and executed.

Our advance systems feature:

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Pop-up test

What we offer

Accelerate your R&D screening and optimization experiments with parallel high-pressure reactor systems.

Flowrence Products

Avantium’s most advanced proprietary high throughput technology, with up to 16-parallel reactors.

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Custom R&D Units

Unique capabilities to accelerate your R&D needs in sustainable chemistry.

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Contract R&D

Developing better and more efficient catalysts with the world’s best high throughput technology.

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Batch testing units

Unique capabilities to accelerate your R&D needs in sustainable chemistry.

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Talk to an expert

Get in contact with our Business development team. Driven by a passion for creating a cleaner chemical sector, Avantium R&D Solutions is always open to solving any problems, no matter how big or small the ask.

+31 (0)20 5868080 or send us an email [email protected]

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Pyrolysis oil upgrading
Batchington
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