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Pyrolysis oil upgrading

High-throughput adsorbent and catalyst screening for heavy renewable feedstocks

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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

Strategy for Pyrolysis Oil Upgrading R&D

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

High- throughput batch testing options

Using Avantium’s high temperature high-throughput Batch platform, many adsorbents, catalysts and conditions can be quickly screened. It is specifically designed to screen corrosive materials under high temperature, pressure and inert or reactive conditions.

Focus areas: 

  • Initial screening of adsorbents or catalysts​
  • Contaminant removal​
  • Stabilization​
  • Mild hydrogenation​
  • Risk mitigation, check for gunking, corrosive reaction products​
  • Condition screening

Process:

  • Up to 280°C, up to 100 bar​
  • Two blocks of each 12 parallel 2 mL stirred reactors​
  • Inert atmosphere or reactive atmosphere​
  • Suited for liquid and solid adsorbents or catalysts​
  • Easy sample transfer for offline analysis of treated liquid

 

High-throughput flow testing options

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.

Focus areas: 

  • High-throughput R&D system for upgrading heavy & renewable feeds​
  • Adsorbent and catalyst screening & development​
  • Hydrotreatment / Hydrocracking / Boiling point adjustment​
  • Process condition optimization​
  • Duration and validation tests

Process: 

Why choose us?

Decades of high-throughput application experience

Highest safety standards

Custom made systems, tailored towards customer specifications

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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Chemical Plastics Recycling
Batchington
Flowrence