Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology

Method development for chemical degradation of waste tyres to produce oil and characterization thereof

2^nd World Congress on Petroleum and Refinery

June 01-03, 2017 Osaka, Japan

Phuti Cedric Tsipa and Percy Hlangothi

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Pet Environ Biotechnol

Abstract:

Tyre dumps are a growing problem around the world due to the challenges faced in the disposal of tyres. The complex nature of a tyre makes it resistant to biological degradation and difficult to dissolve or melt. One of the common processes in which waste tyres are recycled is pyrolysis. Although this method has been under research for many years, its products still have low market value. This study proposes a chemical degradation method as an indirect alternative to pyrolysis and attempts to produce valuable products. Characterization methods that were carried out on the oil were GC-MS and SIMDIST ASTM D86 for better understanding of the composition and petroleum fractions of the oil. The results showed that foreign compounds were present in the extracted oil compared to commercial oils. The bulk of the petroleum fractions of the oils were light vacuum gas oil 343-455 oC followed by heavy vacuum gas oil 455-566 oC. These findings indicate that oil produced by this method falls in the category of heavy oils, which can potentially be hydrocracked using a suitable catalyst to produce useful petroleum products.

Biography :

Phuti Cedric Tsipa is currently a Master’s student in the Centre for Rubber Science & Technology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). He has completed his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Polymer Science at the University of Stellenbosch and moved to NMMU for Post-graduate studies in Physical and Polymer Science. His research interest in this field was sparked during his honour’s year when he developed a method to extract processing oil used in the production of tyres. He subsequently developed a chemical degradation method for waste tyres to produce potentially reusable char and oil.

Email: s215375548@nmmu.ac.za