Investigation of non-noble metals (Ni and Fe) as substitutes of noble metals (Pd and Ru) supported on acid zeolites for waste tire pyrolysis

Abstract

Pyrolysis of waste tire is one of alternative techniques to produce petro-chemical products. Noble metals supported on acid zeolite catalysts, especially Pd and Ru supported on acid zeolites (HMOR and HBeta), were reported as potentical catalysts to produce the valuable petrochemical products from waste tire pyrolysis. Due to the high prices of noble metal catalysts, the objective of this research work was to use non-noble metal catalysts as substitutes of noble metal catalysts. The non-noble metals (Ni and Fe) supported on acid zeolites (HMOR and HBeta) were used in this research because Ni and Fe catalysts have high activity in isomerization, cracking, and the ring opening of hydrocarbons. Moreover, Ni and Fe are elements in the same group as Pd and Ru noble metals, which is the VIIIB group, aiming to pro-duce high valuable products similar to those obtained from the noble metals. It was found that 5%Ni/HBeta can be used as a substiute of 1%Pd/HBeta as a naphtha-producing catalyst since it produced the similar quantity of full range naphtha as 1%Pd/HBeta. Moreover, 5%Ni/HBeta produced the good quality of petroleum oil which contained high sat HCs/total aromatics and low sulfure content in oil. With using HMOR as a support, 20%Ni/HMOR appeared to be a capable catalyst for substituting 1%Pd/HMOR because 20%Ni/HMOR can produce as high quantity and quality as 1%Pd/HMOR. Furthermore, the petrochemical production by using 1%Ru/HBeta can be substituted by using 10%Fe/HBeta since it can produce the higher yields of light olefins, cooking gases, mixed C4, and light mono-aromatics (BTXs) thanthose of 1%Ru/HBeta. Similarly, 20%Fe/HMOR can be used as a substitute of 1%Ru/HMOR for petrochemical products.