Pyrolysis of Polyolefins in High-Boiling Solvents

E. I. Andreikov, I. S. Amosova, Yu. A. Dikovinkina, and M. G. Pervova

Postovskii Institute of Organic Synthesis, Ural Branch,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia

e-mail: cc@ios.uran.ru

Received July 17, 2012

Abstract—The pyrolysis of polyethylene and polypropylene in vacuum residue and coal-tar pitch solvents was
studied in a batch reactor at atmospheric pressure in a temperature range of 380–420C. Aliphatic hydrocarbons
and C₅–C₃₂ normal olefins and isoolefins were the main pyrolysis products of the polyolefins and vacuum res-
idue, which also underwent thermal degradation at these temperatures. The total conversion of a polypropy-
lene–vacuum residue mixture into gaseous and distillate products was nearly additive; upon the pyrolysis of
polypropylene in pitch and of polyethylene in vacuum residue and pitch, the yield of distillate products
decreased and the paraffin/olefin ratio in these products increased. The observed regularities were explained by
hydrogen transfer from the solvents to the intermediate radical products of the thermal decomposition of polymer
chains. The reactions of the resulting of olefins with the solvents can also occur to a lesser degree. The greatest devi-
ations from additivity were observed in the pyrolysis of polyethylene in the solvents used.

DOI: 10.3103/S0361521913040022

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