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Catalytic Hydrocracking of Synthetic Polymers into Grid-Compatible Gas Streams

49 Pages Posted: 12 Oct 2020 Publication Status: Published

See all articles by Wei-Tse Lee

Wei-Tse Lee

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Felix D. Bobbink

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Antoine P. van Muyden

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Laboratory of Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry

Kun-Han Lin

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Clémence Corminboeuf

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Reza R. Zamani

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (CIME)

Paul J. Dyson

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Laboratory of Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry

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Abstract

The utilization of methane as one of the cleanest energy sources has received significant public awareness and methane productions with less environmental impact than fracking are receiving considerable attention. Catalytic hydrocracking of plastic materials has been considered as a clean alternative scenario. However, a catalyst that converts heterogeneous plastic feeds into a single product under industrially relevant conditions is lacking. Here we describe a ruthenium-modified zeolite which catalytically transforms polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene into grid compatible methane (>97% purity), at 300 ºC using near-stoichiometric amounts of hydrogen. Mechanistic studies reveal a chain-end initiation process with limited isomerization of plastic substrates. A ruthenium-site dominant mechanism is proposed based on these studies and DFT computations. We foresee such a plastic-to-methane process advances upon the intelligent utilization of plastic waste via energy recovery, also accommodates emerging sustainable hydrogen productions into existing natural gas networks, integrating waste management, fuel production and energy storage.

Keywords: Waste management, Fuel production, Heterogeneous catalysis

Suggested Citation

Lee, Wei-Tse and Bobbink, Felix D. and van Muyden, Antoine P. and Lin, Kun-Han and Corminboeuf, Clémence and Zamani, Reza R. and Dyson, Paul J., Catalytic Hydrocracking of Synthetic Polymers into Grid-Compatible Gas Streams. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3696768 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3696768
This version of the paper has not been formally peer reviewed.

Wei-Tse Lee

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ( email )

Quartier UNIL-Dorigny, Bâtiment Extranef, # 211
40, Bd du Pont-d'Arve
CH-1015 Lausanne, CH-6900
Switzerland

Felix D. Bobbink

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ( email )

Quartier UNIL-Dorigny, Bâtiment Extranef, # 211
40, Bd du Pont-d'Arve
CH-1015 Lausanne, CH-6900
Switzerland

Antoine P. Van Muyden

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Laboratory of Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry ( email )

Quartier UNIL-Dorigny, Bâtiment Extranef, # 211
40, Bd du Pont-d'Arve
CH-1015 Lausanne, CH-6900
Switzerland

Kun-Han Lin

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ( email )

Quartier UNIL-Dorigny, Bâtiment Extranef, # 211
40, Bd du Pont-d'Arve
CH-1015 Lausanne, CH-6900
Switzerland

Clémence Corminboeuf

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ( email )

Quartier UNIL-Dorigny, Bâtiment Extranef, # 211
40, Bd du Pont-d'Arve
CH-1015 Lausanne, CH-6900
Switzerland

Reza R. Zamani

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (CIME)

Station 5
Odyssea 1.04
1015 Lausanne, CH-1015
Switzerland

Paul J. Dyson (Contact Author)

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering ( email )

Lausanne
Switzerland

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Laboratory of Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry ( email )

Lausanne
Switzerland

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