Removal of organobromine compounds from the pyrolysis oils of flame retarded plastics using zeolite catalysts

Abstract Two flame retarded plastics have been pyrolysed in the presence of two zeolite catalysts to remove the organobromine compounds from the derived pyrolysis oil. The flame retarded plastics were, acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) that was flame retarded with tetrabromobisphenol A and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) that was flame retarded with decabromodiphenyl ether. The two catalysts investigated were zeolite ZSM-5 and zeolite Y-Zeolite. Pyrolysis was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at a final pyrolysis temperature of 440 °C. The pyrolysis gases were passed immediately to a fixed bed of the catalyst. It was found that the presence of zeolite catalysts increased the amount of gaseous hydrocarbons produced during pyrolysis but decreased the amount of pyrolysis oil produced. In addition, significant quantities of coke were formed on the surface of the catalysts during pyrolysis. The zeolite catalysts were found to reduce the formation of some valuable pyrolysis products such as styrene and cumene, but other products such as naphthalene were formed instead. The zeolite catalysts, especially Y-Zeolite, were found to be very effective at removing volatile organobromine compounds. However, they were less effective at removing antimony bromide from the volatile pyrolysis products, although some antimony bromide was found on the surfaces of the spent catalysts.