Characteristics of bio-oil obtained by catalytic pyrolysis of beverage carton packaging waste

• Fast pyrolysis of waste Tetra Aseptic with montmorillonites K10 and KSF as an acid catalyst was carried out.
• Montmorillonite K10 affects the yield and the composition of resultant bio-oil depending on the pyrolysis conditions.
• The higher addition of montmorillonite K10, the deeper transformation of cellulose and polyethylene.
• The range of thermo-catalytic decomposition of polyethylene layer depends on the type and amount of clay catalyst.

Milled Tetra Aseptic (TA), and cardboard (TAC) and polyethylene (TAPE) layers separated from TA were subjected to non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis at 450 °C with a heating rate of 100 °C/s to produce liquid products with high yield. Two montmorillonite clays (K10, KSF) were acting as catalysts. The pyrolytic oil yield was in the range of 49.7–69.3 wt% depending on the type and the amount of catalyst. The non-catalytic fast pyrolysis at 450 °C leads to the formation of bio-oil as a mixture of water, oil and wax with the highest yield (66.9 wt%). The addition of montmorillonite K10 promotes deeper degradation of polyethylene with the formation of liquid and gaseous products. Increasing amount of montmorillonite results in loss of bio-oil productivity followed by a substantial increase of gas yield. The amount and the type of catalyst influence the distribution of oil components. The addition of montmorillonite K10 to Tetra Aseptic promotes deeper conversion of cardboard and polyethylene layers. Ultimate and FT-IR analyzes show that the liquid products are characterized by lower oxygen content accompanied by increased hydrogen and carbon contents. The contribution of liquid hydrocarbons is the highest in bio-oil when a montmorillonite K10 is used as a catalyst during pyrolysis of TA. The pyrolysis of cardboard or polyethylene layers separated from TA shows that the process does not undergo according to the additivity rule. The degradation of PE is much deeper during the pyrolysis of separate layer than whole TA.