Laboratory of thermal decomposition of hydrocarbon raw materials, waste tires, plastics and biomass to chemicals and fuels

Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology

Department/Institute: Institute of organic chemistry, catalysis and Petrochemistry
Contact person:        Assoc. Prof. Ing. Elena Hájeková, PhD.
Contact:                   +421-2-5932 5457
e-mail:                     elena.hajekova@stuba.sk
web page:                http://www.fchpt.stuba.sk/$2205$, http://www.chtf.stuba.sk/ktrp/

Description:

Pyrolysis research is focused on two main directions:

1)      the conversion of various hydrocarbon feedstocks into petrochemicals,

2)      conversion of polymer waste and biomass to chemicals and automotive fuels.

In the first case, kinetics and product distribution at steam cracking (pyrolysis) of model of hydrocarbons and unkonventional hydrocarbon raw materials is followed, depending on the reaction parameters (temperature, residence time, partial pressure of hydrocarbons) in  laboratory reactors. The possibility of reduction the formation of coke deposits during steam cracking by the addition of inhibitors or by surface treatment of reactor is studied .

In the second case, the research is conducted on the production of fuels and chemicals from solid waste and biomass by thermal cracking. We fractionate semi-liquid oil/waxes obtained by cracking of polyolefin waste, separated from municipal waste or from old vehicles, via distillation. By this way we prepare directly usable component of gasoline or diesel fuel. Oil/waxes can be also added to raw liquid feedstock for pyrolysis (e.g. naphtha) to produce basic petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, C4 - alkenes and aromatics. Hydrotreated obtained Prepared components of gasoline and diesel can be hydrogenated. We have developed gas chromatographic methods for determining the composition of complex gaseous and liquid mixtures of pyrolysis products.

Important is the implementation of our results in industrial practice upon pyrolysis of used tires in company DRON – Mliečany, Dunajská Streda, Slovakia. Used tires are converted to gaseous and liquid fuels, fuel oils, solid carbon materials in the universal flow- tube reactor by  pyrolytic processing of carbon materials .

 

Projects:

"Pyrolysis and catalytic conversion of biomass and organic waste to fuel of second generation" (Slovak grant agency VEGA 2012-2014).

"Preparation of automotive fuels from waste plastics" (Volkswagen Foundation 2013 - 2014).
"Fuels and chemicals from waste and biomass" (Slovak grant agency VEGA 2009-2011).

"Alternative feedstocks in hydrocarbon technologies for the production of organic fuels and petrochemicals" (Slovak grant agency VEGA 2006-2008).

  

Publications:

1. Olahová, N., Bajus, M., Hájeková, E., Šugár, L., Markoš, J., Kinetics and modelling of heptane steam-cracking (2014) Chemical Papers, pp. 1-12. Article in Press. 
2. Bajus, M., Thermal cracking of mixtures of plastics and woody material (2011) Petroleum and Coal, 53 (1), pp. 1-7. 
3. Bajus, M., Olahová, N., Thermal conversion of scrap tyres (2011) Petroleum and Coal, 53 (2), pp. 98-105. 
4. Mlynková, B., Hájeková, E., Bajus, M., Coke formation in copyrolysis of oils or waxes of individual and mixed polymers in Naphtha [Tvorba koksu počas kopyrolýzy individuálnych a zmesných polymérov s primárnym ťažkým Benzínom] (2010) Chemicke Listy, 104 (10), pp. 926-933. 
5. Mlynková, B., Bajus, M., Hájeková, E., Kostrab, G., Mravec, D., Fuels obtained by thermal cracking of individual and mixed polymers (2009) Chemical Papers, 64 (1), pp. 15-24. 
6. Mlynková, B., Hájeková, E., Bajus, M., Copyrolysis of oils/waxes of individual and mixed polyalkenes cracking products with petroleum fraction (2008) Fuel Processing Technology, 89 (11), pp. 1047-1055. 
7. Klepáčová, K., Mravec, D., Kaszonyi, A., Bajus, M., Etherification of glycerol and ethylene glycol by isobutylene (2007) Applied Catalysis A: General, 328 (1), pp. 1-13. 
8. Hájeková, E., Špodová, L., Bajus, M., Mlynková, B., Separation and characterization of products from thermal cracking of individual and mixed polyalkenes (2007) Chemical Papers, 61 (4), pp. 262-270.
9. Hájeková, E., Mlynková, B., Bajus, M., Špodová, L., Copyrolysis of naphtha with polyalkene cracking products; the influence of polyalkene mixtures composition on product distribution (2007) Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 79 (1-2 SPEC. ISS.), pp. 196-204. 
10. Soják, L., Kubinec, R., Jurdáková, H., Hájeková, E., Bajus, M., High resolution gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of polyethylene and polypropylene thermal cracking products (2007) Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 78 (2), pp. 387-399. 
11. Klepáčová, K., Mravec, D., Bajus, M., Tert-Butylation of glycerol catalysed by ion-exchange resins (2005) Applied Catalysis A: General, 294 (2), pp. 141-147. 
12.  Hájeková, E., Bajus, M., Recycling of low-density polyethylene and polypropylene via copyrolysis of polyalkene oil/waxes with naphtha: Product distribution and coke formation (2005) Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 74 (1-2), pp. 270-281. 

 

Cooperation: 

1. DRON sklady, s.r.o., Mliečany, pyrolysis of waste tires.
2. Faculty of Chemical Technology, Institute of Organic Technology, VŠCHT Praha, Czech Republic.
3. Haute Ecole Henry Spaak, Environmental, Occupational & Ageing Physiology Laboratory, Brussels, Belgium.
4. Laboratory for Chemical Technology, Ghent University, Belgium.

 

Fotografie:

Fig. 1: Flow laboratory pyrolysis reactor with preheater

Fig. 2: Batch reactor for cracking of waste solid materials