Simulation of Catalytic Pyrolysis of Waste Plastics Using Microwave Heating

The pyrolysis process is a promising method to convert waste plastics into valuable products. The catalytic process is of great importance since it operates under mild temperatures and gives a narrow range of products compared to thermal pyrolysis. Microwave heating is a rapid and volumetric heating method that can be a candidate to supply heat for pyrolysis reaction by employing microwave receptor material as the wall of the reactor. Catalysts play a crucial role in catalytic pyrolysis. HZSM-5 is an excellent catalyst for plastic pyrolysis since it favors light olefinic products as a result of its high acidity and small pore size distribution which also hinders the production of coke which is an unwanted product. Mass fraction and the size of catalyst are important areas to conduct research, as well as the velocity of carrier gas of the reaction bed. In this thesis, a microwave reactor is simulated in COMSOL, the reaction pathway and kinetics are discussed by the help of MATLAB software to solve differential equations of kinetic equations. The pyrolysis reaction is simulated in COMSOL and effects of the mass & particle size of the catalyst as well as the inlet velocity of carrier gas are investigated and discussed.