International Symposium and Worskhops: Sunstainable Solutions at Times of Transition (SuST)
14-17th July, 2022 – Nisyros Island, GREECE

 

Ecologically destructive human practices that bring about climate change, have increased the risk of extreme weather events, food system failures, biodiversity loss, social inequalities, and geopolitical instability.
As we struggle to face the ecological crisis and collapse in the time of the Anthropocene, environmental and social sustainable practices have become a vital issue for the survival of humanity.
Sustainability is related to systemic health and resilience at different scales, from local to regional and global. It requires a broader view of the importance of various capitals, their coexistence and mutual symbiosis. It requires “Closing the loop” of product lifecycles through greater recycling and reuse, as well as using resources in a sustainable way from production and consumption to waste management. Sustainable development is prompting a re-assessment of innovation and technological change that have a great impact on the environmental, social and economic aspects of life in our planet. Achieving sustainability will require fundamental, transformative and cross-cutting change and sustainable proposals, at all levels.

 

OBJECTIVE

The major objective of the symposium is to promote the scientific dialogue supporting the sustainable management and usage of natural resources and the shift in the use of renewable resources with best
paradigms, practices and policies at the local, Mediterranean, European and global scales. This can be achieved by addressing the technical, socio-economic, ecological and sustainability dimensions in the context of “Accelerating the Transition to Equitable, Sustainable, Post-Fossil Carbon Societies!”.

 

More information

 

BlackCycle consortium with CERTH propose an abstract at International Symposium and Worskhops: Sunstainable Solutions at Times of Transition (SuST)

Recycling of end-of-life tyres via pyrolysis and catalytic vapour upgrading – 16th June, 2022 at 10:45 am by Aggelos Lappas

 

Recycling of end-of-life tyres via pyrolysis and catalytic vapour upgrading

 

Stylianos D. Stefanidis, Eleni Pachatouridou, Eleni Heracleous, Angelos A. Lappas*

Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece *angel@certh.gr

 

Keywords: Tyres, Recycling, Carbon black, Aromatics

 

Abstract

A large number of tyres from road vehicles are retired annually, entering the pool of end-of-life tyres (ELTs) that presents a large, untapped potential for material recovery. Tyres are complex composites made up of elastomers, fillers, reinforcement materials, chemicals and plasticisers, many of which are produced from non-renewable sources. While ELTs can be treated to be repurposed for various applications, today’s treatment processes are not circular and do not result in many raw materials that can be reused in new tyres. The aim of this study, which is part of the EU project BlackCycle, was to develop a technology for the recycling of ELTs into raw materials that can be used for the production of new tyres, effectively reducing the use of composites from non[1]renewable sources and drastically mitigating CO2 emissions associated with new tyre manufacturing. Towards this goal, pyrolysis of an ELT feed was carried out to obtain pyrolysis oil and recycled carbon black; pyrolysis oils with a high content in aromatics can be utilised for the production of carbon black, a major tyre component used as filler. Particular focus was placed on the coupling of pyrolysis with catalytic vapour upgrading in order to catalytically convert the tyre-derived compounds in the pyrolysis vapours to aromatics and maximise the aromaticity of the produced pyrolysis oils. The pyrolysis temperature was first optimized in a bench-scale fixed bed reactor to obtain a maximum pyrolysis oil yield of ~53 wt%. This was followed by a pre-screening of various acidic zeolites and low-cost mineral oxides with the aim to identify promising catalysts that produce highly aromatic pyrolysis oils. A significant increase in the aromaticity of pyrolysis oils was observed with USY and ZSM-5 zeolite-based catalysts, accompanied by only a moderate reduction of the pyrolysis oil yield to ~42 wt%. Modification of the catalysts with transition metals evidently promoted dehydrogenation reactions, which favoured the formation of di- and tri- aromatic compounds over monoaromatics, and resulted in pyrolysis oils with increased average MW that are more suitable for the production of carbon black. The results were verified by further testing of the most promising catalysts in a continuous medium-scale unit with cascading bubbling bed reactors, as well as in a continuous pilot-scale plant with a circulating fluidized bed reactor with continuous catalyst regeneration. The maximum aromatic content achieved in the pyrolysis oil in this work was ~87 wt% with a USY catalyst, while the maximum total aromatics yield achieved was ~38 wt%