Influence of Iron Chloride on Hydrocracking of Waste Plastics Using Coal Tar

Abstract

When waste plastics that include chlorine-containing plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), are used for a blast furnace, a chlorine-containing gas generated during pyrolysis may corrode the equipment. Then, the melt process mixed with PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, coal tar (HOB) and Fe₂O₃ as the antichlor agents were examined to stabilize chlorine that was detached from PVC to form iron chloride. After the melt process, these were hydrocracked to produce oil. The result that chlorine was stabilized by iron oxide and formed iron chloride on the melt process was confirmed and reported. Subsequently, the influence of iron chloride on the hydorcracking process was examined. The following results were obtained;
(1) FeCl₂ and FeCl₃ promote polymerization of the product, and chlorine, which is generated from FeCl₃ by pyrolysis, is distributed in the product.
(2) When Fe₂O₃ is added on the melt process excessively, the dispersion of chlorine can be controlled by Fe₂O₃ to fix chlorine generated from FeCl₃.
(3) However, it is necessary to remove the iron chloride before the hydrocracking process because they promote polymerization of the products.