Catalytic co-pyrolysis of keyboard plastic and sawdust toward petrochemical-grade hydrocarbons over niobium-loaded zeolite catalyst

This study examines for the first-time the in-situ co-pyrolysis of e-waste plastic, keyboards (KB) and sawdust (SD) in different blending ratios (2/1, 1/1, and 1/2) using a tandem microreactor–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry system at 600 ℃. The blend with SD/KB = 2/1 exhibited a positive synergistic effect in the fractionation of the components and production of valuable aromatics, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX), with a significant lowering of oxygenates. For the catalytic co-pyrolysis, Hβ(25) exhibited prominent results toward the BTEX production compared to HZSM-5(30) and Hβ(38). Among the metal-loaded (Nb, Zn, and Fe) Hβ(25), the maximum amount of BTEX was determined over Nb/Hβ(25) with catalyst/feedstock = 3/1. The results of the ex-situ micropyrolyzer configuration highlighted the prominent significance of the in-situ mode toward the activation in breaking the KB polymeric structure. Moreover, the lab-scale co-pyrolysis results exhibited a maximum positive synergistic effect (21.54 %) in the quantified yield of BTEX over the Nb/Hβ(25) catalyst. Furthermore, the Nb/Hβ(25) catalyst was also subjected to the three lab-scale catalytic co-pyrolysis cycles to evaluate its structural stability and durability.