Catalytic Pyrolysis of Post-Consumer Polypropylene over a Regenerated FCC Catalyst Under Moderate Vacuum: Gasoline- and Diesel-Range Fuels with a Low Aromatic Content
5 affiliations
- 1Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Av. Paisos Catalans, 26, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
- 2Departamento de Ciencias de la Energía y Mecánica, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Av. General Rumiñahui s/n y Ambato, Sangolquí 171103, Ecuador
- 3Centro de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolquí 171103, Ecuador
- 4Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería Química y Agroindustria, Escuela Politécnica Nacional EPN, Quito 170143, Ecuador
- 5Departamento de Metalurgia Extractiva, Facultad de Ingeniería Química y Agroindustria, Escuela Politécnica Nacional EPN, Quito 170143, Ecuador
Abstract
Post-consumer polypropylene (PP) waste is a growing environmental liability in developing economies with limited recycling infrastructure. This study presents an integrated kinetic-to-reactor approach for the catalytic pyrolysis of three compositionally distinct post-consumer PP streams, combining a moderate vacuum (0.45 bar absolute) with a regenerated fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst to produce diesel-range fuel while valorising two industrial waste streams. The activation energies derived from thermogravimetric analysis (β = 30 °C min−1, N2) using the Coats–Redfern method were 178.3 kJ mol−1 for the near-pure isotactic PP feedstock, consistent with random chain scission, and 209.2 and 351.9 kJ mol−1 for the UV-stabilised and PP/HDPE streams, respectively, reflecting the feedstock composition; the DTG profile informed the selection of 450 °C as the reactor set point. At the best condition within the studied domain (Cat/PP = 0.03 g g−1, 2 h, 450 °C), the regenerated FCC catalyst achieved 75.10 wt% liquid yield, a 50% improvement over thermal pyrolysis, with a low aromatic content of 1.69 area%,attributed primarily to the moderate acidity of the regenerated catalyst, versus the 10–25 wt% typical of atmospheric zeolitic pyrolysis. Vacuum distillation yielded a diesel fraction that mainly complies with the ASTM D975 Grade 2-D S15 parameters (cetane index 68.92, sulphur 14.1 ppm) without hydrotreatment, demonstrating a technically viable waste-to-fuel pathway where post-consumer polyolefins and refinery FCC by-products are simultaneously abundant.
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BibTeX
@article{donoso2026catalytic,
title = {{Catalytic Pyrolysis of Post-Consumer Polypropylene over a Regenerated FCC Catalyst Under Moderate Vacuum: Gasoline- and Diesel-Range Fuels with a Low Aromatic Content}},
author = {Caterine Donoso and Gabriela Taipe-Andagua and Liliana Guzmán-Beckmann and Alberto Coronas and Alexis Debut and Sebastian Taco-Vasquez and Lucia E. Manangon-Perugachi and Andrés Chico-Proaño and Joan Carles Bruno},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212760},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2760},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Catalytic Pyrolysis of Post-Consumer Polypropylene over a Regenerated FCC Catalyst Under Moderate Vacuum: Gasoline- and Diesel-Range Fuels with a Low Aromatic Content
AU - Caterine Donoso
AU - Gabriela Taipe-Andagua
AU - Liliana Guzmán-Beckmann
AU - Alberto Coronas
AU - Alexis Debut
AU - Sebastian Taco-Vasquez
AU - Lucia E. Manangon-Perugachi
AU - Andrés Chico-Proaño
AU - Joan Carles Bruno
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212760
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2760
AB - Post-consumer polypropylene (PP) waste is a growing environmental liability in developing economies with limited recycling infrastructure. This study presents an integrated kinetic-to-reactor approach for the catalytic pyrolysis of three compositionally distinct post-consumer PP streams, combining a moderate vacuum (0.45 bar absolute) with a regenerated fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst to produce diesel-range fuel while valorising two industrial waste streams. The activation energies derived from thermogravimetric analysis (β = 30 °C min−1, N2) using the Coats–Redfern method were 178.3 kJ mol−1 for the near-pure isotactic PP feedstock, consistent with random chain scission, and 209.2 and 351.9 kJ mol−1 for the UV-stabilised and PP/HDPE streams, respectively, reflecting the feedstock composition; the DTG profile informed the selection of 450 °C as the reactor set point. At the best condition within the studied domain (Cat/PP = 0.03 g g−1, 2 h, 450 °C), the regenerated FCC catalyst achieved 75.10 wt% liquid yield, a 50% improvement over thermal pyrolysis, with a low aromatic content of 1.69 area%,attributed primarily to the moderate acidity of the regenerated catalyst, versus the 10–25 wt% typical of atmospheric zeolitic pyrolysis. Vacuum distillation yielded a diesel fraction that mainly complies with the ASTM D975 Grade 2-D S15 parameters (cetane index 68.92, sulphur 14.1 ppm) without hydrotreatment, demonstrating a technically viable waste-to-fuel pathway where post-consumer polyolefins and refinery FCC by-products are simultaneously abundant.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -