Thermal and catalytic decomposition behavior of PVC mixed plastic waste with petroleum residue

In a single-stage pyrolysis reaction, PVC was processed with petroleum residue at 150 and 430 °C, under N2 gas for 1 h at each temperature in a glass reactor. The model PVC and waste PVC showed slight variations in the products distribution obtained from the glass reactor. In two-stage process, model PVC, vacuum gas oil (VGO) and a number of different catalysts were used in a stainless steel autoclave micro tubular reactor at 350 °C under the stream of N2 gas for 1 h and at 430 °C under 950 psi (6.5 MPa) H2 pressure for the duration of 2 h. Significantly, different products distributions were obtained. Among the catalysts used, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydrocracking catalysts (HC-1) were most effective in producing liquid fuel (hexane soluble) materials. The study shows that the catalytic coprocessing of PVC with VGO is a feasible process by which PVC and VGO materials can be converted into transportation fuels.