Chemical Recycling of Plastics – Solutions for the Analysis of Nitrogen, Sulfur, and Halogens in Pyrolysis Oil

Chemical recycling holds the key to keeping plastics in the loop. Plastic waste is chemically converted into substances that can be reused as raw materials for plastic production. Pyrolysis oil is an intermediate product during this process. Among its main contaminants are nitrogen, sulfur, and halogens, which can cause fouling, corrosion, and catalyst poisoning during further processing. Therefore, quality control is essential to optimize treatment and prevent emissions, extended maintenance cycles, and low-quality hydrocarbon products.

The complexity of chemical recycling is influenced by the raw material entering the process. Plastic waste can have a high diversity in chemical composition and physical properties, resulting in a high variability of the pyrolysis oil. Thus, one of the biggest challenges in analyzing pyrolysis oil is handling the different product grades – from low boilers to heavy cuts. Furthermore, samples can be inhomogeneous, highly viscous, and vigorously reacting, which makes it difficult to ensure correct analysis results.

The analysis by pyrolytic and pyrohydrolytic combustion has proven as best suited for the quick and combined determination of all relevant non-metal elements over a wide concentration range. The presented instruments ensure safe, soot-free, and quantitative combustion with short analysis times. Furthermore, the instruments can not only be utilized for the analysis of pyrolysis oil, but also for the analysis of the plastics entering the chemical recycling process.

This web seminar will highlight:

• The versatility of pyrolysis oil – whether to do sample preparation or not
• How to assure quantitative combustion of pyrolysis oils and plastics
• Combined determination of S, N, C, and total halides
• Halide speciation – determination of fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine

Presenter: Angela Gröbel (Product Manager CNSX/AOX, Analytik Jena)

Presenter: Theresa Steurer (Application Specialist Combustion Ion Chromatography, Metrohm AG)

Host: Simone Moos (Product Manager, Analytik Jena)