Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
Catalyst application tested; significant oil-product benefits established for both mixed-plastic and tire applications.
Organizations Involved:
Klean Industries, Confidential Research Partners, and Catalyst Providers
Services / Equipment:
Feasibility Studies, Design & Engineering
We applied a new catalyst to the process gas streams from mixed-plastic and tire pyrolysis, significantly improving the resulting oils in both applications. The work demonstrated a valuable opportunity to influence the output product before it is recovered as a liquid.
A pyrolysis project’s commercial performance depends on the product it can sell as well as the volume it can produce. The oil must have properties that suit its intended use, whether as a refinery feedstock, a blending component or an input to further upgrading. Decisions made during conversion influence that product and the work needed to bring it to market.
Our catalyst work addressed this opportunity at the gas stage. The learning reached across two different feedstock applications, connecting the treatment of each process stream with the oil recovered from it. That makes catalyst application a product decision as well as a process decision.
The Challenge
Make oil quality part of the conversion strategy.
Producing a liquid is an intermediate achievement. Its composition and physical properties determine how it can be handled, processed and used. An oil producer therefore needs to understand how changes in the conversion process affect the product that reaches the storage tank.
Catalytic treatment introduces another way to influence that product. The development challenge is to establish how the catalyst interacts with the process stream, what changes appear in the recovered oil and whether those changes serve the intended application.
Mixed plastics and tires require their own evaluation.
The work covered distinct plastic and tire applications. Each feedstock produces its own process stream and oil, so each requires a suitable comparison and product assessment. A result from a narrowly specified plastic feed does not describe the outcome for mixed plastics or tires. Our testing addressed both routes, with the resulting oil as the basis for assessing the benefit.
The Solution
Apply the catalyst where it can influence the oil being formed.
Pyrolysis generates a hot process stream containing gases and condensable hydrocarbon vapours. Catalyst application at this stage can influence the hydrocarbons that subsequently form the recovered oil. This makes the treatment stage part of the product-development strategy.
We applied a new catalyst in this part of the process for mixed-plastic and tire pyrolysis. The findings established its relevance to both applications and informed how we approach subsequent catalyst testing and process development.
The work connects catalyst application with the wider conversion system. Feedstock characteristics, operating conditions, contact with the catalyst and oil recovery all matter to the result. For a project developer, those relationships determine where a catalyst assessment belongs in process design and what a meaningful trial must examine.
Carry the learning into the next application.
The useful question for a future project is the product change it needs to achieve. An oil assay, the intended buyer’s requirements and a representative process stream provide the basis for defining that target. The catalyst can then be assessed against the oil improvement that matters to the application.
For a new plant, that assessment can inform equipment and integration decisions while the configuration is still being developed. For an existing operator, it can establish whether a change at the gas stage merits a trial against the current oil product.
The Outcome
Significant oil-product benefits in both applications.
Our testing confirmed oil-product benefits in both mixed-plastic and tire pyrolysis. The value of the work lies in that broader application experience: the catalyst approach was examined against different feedstocks and their corresponding oils.
For mixed plastics, the learning connects treatment of the conversion stream with improvement of the recovered plastic-derived oil. For tires, it extends that connection to tire-derived oil. Each result belongs to its own application, and together they give us a wider basis for evaluating where catalytic treatment can add value.
A product improvement becomes a process-design opportunity.
The findings inform where to investigate an improvement, how to define a representative trial and how to connect the resulting oil with the requirements of its intended market. The commercial opportunity is to develop an oil better suited to its next use, with the value of that improvement established through the product specification, the cost of achieving it and the customer’s acceptance requirements. Those considerations make catalyst evaluation relevant to investment decisions as well as laboratory development.
The learning reaches from the gas stream to the product offer. We apply it to the next practical question: what would the process need to change to produce an oil better suited to the customer?
3 priority lessons selected from the wider experience behind this work. Through a defined engagement, we apply our broader technology and delivery experience to your project’s requirements, risks and opportunities.
1. Oil quality can be addressed at the gas stage. Our catalyst application produced significant benefits in the recovered oils. Evaluate this part of the process when defining the product you want to make and the upgrading work it may need.
2. The learning covers mixed plastics and tires. Both applications benefited, giving us experience across distinct feedstock routes. Apply that learning through testing of the actual process stream and oil rather than assuming that different feeds produce the same result.
3. The next trial should answer a commercial question. Define the oil property or product requirement that matters to the intended customer. Compare the benefit with catalyst use, integration requirements and processing costs to establish the case for deployment.
WHAT DO THESE LESSONS MEAN FOR YOUR PROJECT?
Your oil’s next market may depend on what happens before it becomes oil.
If your mixed-plastic or tire pyrolysis oil needs to meet a different product requirement, bring us the current assay, your process conditions and the specification you want to reach. We will scope a paid catalyst-application assessment around that target, drawing on our testing across both feedstock routes. The work will define the comparison needed to evaluate the oil benefit and its implications for your process.
Let’s target the oil your buyer needs, starting at the gas stage.
Build a Better Oil Product with Klean >> GO.
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ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This account presents our catalyst-application findings for mixed-plastic and tire pyrolysis. Other participants and proprietary development details remain confidential. Client identities, operating practices, process details and proprietary know-how may remain restricted. An enquiry, NDA or paid engagement does not automatically grant access to restricted information, client facilities or site visits. Any disclosure or access requires the relevant permissions and a separately agreed scope; some information cannot be disclosed publicly or privately. Our engagements apply our expertise to your project while respecting those boundaries.
The work supports the objectives of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 12 by connecting industrial innovation with the productive use of recovered resources.
