Reactive coprocessing of scrap tires and heavy oil

The reactive coprocessing of scrap tires and heavy oil was carried out at temperatures of 375, 400, 425, and 450°C. The ultimate yields from the following process cases were determined: scrap tires without oil, SAE 50 weight oil without scrap tire, and scrap tires in the presence of SAE 50 weight oil. Kinetic constants were obtained for all three cases. The values of activation energy showed that the coprocessing of scrap tires and heavy oil is a more favorable reaction pathway for decomposing these waste materials to more useful products than the pyrolysis of tires alone. The distillates produced by the processing of these materials were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The analysis of the three cases showed that coprocessing scrap tires and heavy oil yields more toluene compared to the pyrolysis of the individual waste materials. Therefore, it was concluded that the coprocessing of scrap tires plus heavy oil occurs at a lower temperature and produces higher-value products than the pyrolysis of scrap tire without heavy oil.