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Plastic Waste Conversion over a Refinery Waste Catalyst
Author(s) -
Vollmer Ina,
Jenks Michael J. F.,
Mayorga González Rafael,
Meirer Florian,
Weckhuysen Bert M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202104110
Subject(s) - fluid catalytic cracking , catalysis , zeolite , raw material , gasoline , chemical engineering , materials science , polypropylene , cracking , aromatization , refinery , polymer , waste management , infrared spectroscopy , matrix (chemical analysis) , selectivity , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , engineering
Abstract Polypropylene (PP) makes up a large share of our plastic waste. We investigated the conversion of PP over the industrial Fluid Catalytic Cracking catalyst (FCC‐cat) used to produce gasoline from crude oil fractions. We studied transport limitations arising from the larger size of polymers compared to the crude oil‐based feedstock by testing the components of this catalyst separately. Infrared spectroscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy revealed the role of the FCC matrix in aromatization, and the zeolite Y domains in coking. An equilibrium catalyst (ECAT), discarded during FCC operation as waste, produced the same aromatics content as a fresh FCC‐cat, while coking decreased significantly, likely due to the reduced accessibility and activity of the zeolite domains and an enhanced cracking activity of the matrix due to metal deposits present in ECAT. This mechanistic understanding provides handles for further improving the catalyst composition towards higher aromatics selectivity.