Pyrolysis process for the treatment of scrap tyres: preliminary experimental results

The aim of this work is the evaluation, on a pilot scale, of scrap tyre pyrolysis process performance and the characteristics of the products under different process parameters, such as temperature, residence time, pressure, etc. In this frame, a series of tests were carried out at varying process temperatures between 550 and 680 degreesC, other parameters being equal. Pyrolysis plant process data are collected by an acquisition system; scrap tyre samples used for the treatment, solid and liquid by-products and produced syngas were analysed through both on-line monitoring (for gas) and laboratory analyses. Results show that process temperature, in the explored range, does not seem to seriously influence the volatilisation reaction yield, at least from a quantitative point of view, while it observably influences the distribution of the volatile fraction (liquid and gas) and by-products characteristics. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.