Exploration demonstrates high yield and favorable characteristics of crude bio-oil derived by pyrolysis from natural rubber waste for applying as liquid biofuel and value-added product
摘要
Industrial processing of raw natural rubber (NR) and latex inevitably generates natural rubber waste. The aim of this study was to explore the yield and characteristics of crude bio-oil derived from industrial NR waste, with the goal of further upgrading it to liquid biofuel or other value-added products. Cup lump rubber (CLR) and skim rubber (SR) wastes were pyrolyzed at 400, 450, 500, and 550 °C for 45 min. The results show that pyrolysis of CLR and SR wastes provided crude bio-oils with good yield and very favorable characteristics. The maximum bio-oil yields from CLR and SR wastes were 83 wt.% and 80 wt.%, respectively, achieved at 450 °C. The pH and density of the bio-oil samples were in the ranges of 5.15–9.02 and 885–922.50 kg/m3. All the bio-oil samples had a very low water content (< 0.2 wt.%). High carbon and hydrogen contents in the bio-oils led to superior higher heating values (38.3–39.1 MJ/kg). Chemical compounds identified by GC-MS revealed a high content of D-Limonene (C10H16) at 36.16% in the bio-oil from CLR waste. These results are crucial for further upgrading the bio-oil from industrial CLR and SR wastes, to liquid biofuels or other value-added products.