Nanomaterial-assisted pyrolysis of used lubricating oil and fuel recovery

ABSTRACT

Used lubricating oil (ULO) is a heavy mixture of various hydrocarbons and needs to be treated before discharging. Considering ULO nature, it is more favorable to recover lighter hydrocarbon cuts from ULO, which not only improves the whole process economically, but also prevents the emission of hardly decomposable hydrocarbons into the environment. In this research, the potential of pyrolysis method for ULO recovery was studied. Furthermore, graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), γ- Fe₂O₃ and ZnO nanoparticles were used to improve the kinetics of the process and their impacts on the final product quality were evaluated. Based on the results, adding nanomaterials increased the tendency to produce gas product during pyrolysis. This tendency increased with enhancing the temperature. Among the three studied nanomaterials, γ- Fe₂O₃ incorporation was associated with the most satisfactory outcomes and resulted in liquid products with 81% and 83% of C-8 to C-15 at final temperatures of 400°C and 450°C, respectively. GNP and ZnO nanoparticles led to similar results and about 75% of their products were composed of C-8 to C-15 hydrocarbon cuts. Furthermore, according to the outcomes of GC, atmospheric distillation, density and flash point analyses, γ- Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles can produce hydrocarbon cuts that are lighter than diesel and close to kerosene.

KEYWORDS:

• Used lubricating oil
• recovery
• pyrolysis
• nanomaterial
• hydrocarbon

Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF), which is gratefully acknowledged. Moreover, the authors would like to thank the Research Affairs of the University of Tehran.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seyed Emadeddin Alavi

Seyed Emadeddin Alavi, PhD of environmental engineering from school of environment, University of Tehran; B.Sc and M.Sc. in chemical engineering from Sharif University of Technology.

Mohammad Ali Abdoli

Mohamad Ali Abdoli, Professor of School of Environment, University of Tehran, Google scholar h-index of 21, PhD from University of Texas at Dallas.

Farhad Khorasheh

Farhad Khorasheh, Professor of chemical engineering at Sharif University of Technology expertised in Catalysts and chemical kinetics, Google scholar h-index of 23, PhD in chemical engineering from University of Alberta.

Farzad Nezhadbahadori

Farzad Nezhadbahadori, PhD of environmental engineering from school of environment, University of Tehran; B.Sc. and M.Sc. in chemical engineering from Petroleum University of Technology, Iran.

Abdolmajid Bayandori Moghaddam

Abdolmajid Bayandori Moghaddam, Assistant professor of faculty of engineering sciences, University of Tehran, Iran, Google scholar h-index of 19, PhD in Chemistry from University of Tehran.