Pyrolysis of end of life tyres reclaimed from lorry trucks: Part I – oil recovery and characterisation

About 1.5 billion tyre units are classed as a solid waste on an annual basis after their disposal. The carcass of end of life tyres encompass various petrochemical substances that could easily be recovered after thermally cracking the rubber fraction. In this work, experimental studies were carried out on end of life tyres (ELTs) reclaimed from lorry trucks which are known to be quite resilient to environmental exposure. The cracking took place between 500 and 800°C in a pyrolysis operation of fixed bed reactor type. Oil recovered was extensively studies for its properties and fuel potential. Sulphur content was also determined reaching 2.92% for oil extracted at 500°C with elemental carbon estimated at 64.78%. Elevated temperatures of operation have also shown high potential of diesel fuel fraction (C10-C19) in the pyrolysis oil where it reached 80% for oil recovered at 800°C.