Pyrolysis char from waste tyres its characteristics, upgrading and application

Abstract

The pyrolysis of waste tyres can recycle energy and produce reusable products (oil, char and gas). Although there are many reviews in the literature in regard to the pyrolysis characteristics of waste tyres, but this paper critically looked as pyrolysis char as one of the useful product. Its physical characteristics include pore diameter, pore volume, specific surface area, and composition. The common detection techniques of the physical characteristics include elemental analysis, proximate analysis, SEM, EDS, TGA, XRF, BET, and Raman spectroscopy. The chemical characteristics of tyre char mainly include calorific value, the surface functional groups (i.e phenols, alcohols, carboxylic acid and C-O/C-O-C chemical structures) which can be determined by FT-IR, XRD. The higher sulfur retention on the surface of tyre char is obtained at low temperature compared with that obtained at high temperature. Tyre char could also be directly used as a catalyst material to decrease the operational cost, and improve the quality of pyrolysis oil and gas. The modified tyre char with high specific surface area and lower ash content could be used as an activated carbon adsorbent material, catalyst and catalyst support, capacitor electrode to create higher commercial value, as an adsorbent, in batteries and so on. It is suggested that the recycling applications of tyre char should be developed, which can create a high level of potential economic prospects for the waste tyre pyrolysis industry.