Pyrolysis of Polyolefins in a Conical Spouted Bed Reactor: A Way to Obtain Valuable Products

The amount of waste plastic increases every single year, which causes a critical environmental issue. Polyolefins (mainly high‐ and low‐density polyethylene and polypropylene) are the most common types of plastics, accounting for 60 wt% of the plastic waste. Pyrolysis, the thermal degradation in an inert atmosphere, is considered to be one of the most appealing technologies for the recycling of plastic materials. The conical spouted bed reactor is suitable for the pyrolysis of plastic waste due to its ability to avoid agglomeration problems that may be caused by the melted plastic. The pyrolysis process may be carried out at different temperatures and with or without the presence of catalysts in the reaction environment in order to streamline product distribution. The resulting products are hydrocarbons: non‐condensable gases (C1–C4), gasoline fraction, diesel fraction, and waxes. These fractions might be used directly as feed streams for refinery units or as pools to be mixed with other streams from refineries