CO2 pyrolysis of scrap tires for the enhancement of pyrolytic char yields and adsorbent characteristics

Abstract

The production of adsorbents for heavy metal removal from the pyrolysis of tires was studied. Pyrolysis of waste tires was carried out with N2 and CO2 gas. The CO2 pyrolyzed char had lower heavy metal removal but it improved char yields. Zinc and silicon were the major inorganic constituents in the tire char, and zinc was perhaps the more reactive element. No significant change in adsorption of copper was detected after 750 min for the oxygenated adsorbent (P550250) at 24°C, indicating that equilibrium could be reached around 12 hr. CO2 can be as effective as nitrogen in the pyrolysis of tires in the production of adsorbent chars. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 101st AWMA Annual Conference and Exhibition (Portland, OR 6/24-27/2008).