EFFECTS OF FEED SIZE AND TEMPERATURE ON CHAR FROM PYROLYSED TYRE

Abstract

In order to reduce the environmental problems and health hazards caused by countless automobile scrap tyre piles around the globe,there is need to convert them into a useful product through pyrolysis. Therefore, pyrolysis of automobile scrap tyre to obtain pyro-char was carried out in a 17.4 litres capacity fixed bed reactor. The scrap tyre samples were shredded into feed sizes of 400, 1600 and 3600 mm2 and pyrolysed at varying temperatures of 400, 500 and 600℃ respectively. The effects of these feed sizes and temperature variation on the percentage char yield during pyrolysis were studied and it was observed that both process parameters had effects on the char yield as their percentage reduces significantly with increase in feed sizes and pyrolysing temperature. The ultimate and proximate analyses of the raw sample and char resulting from the pyrolysis were also carried out.The ultimate and proximate analysis of the raw tyre sample revealed its constituting elements to be: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, surphur, moisture content, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash, and their values in percentage (%) are: 79.86, 7.35, 6.50, 0.39, 1.57, 1.25, 62.10, 27.98, and 8.67 respectively while the ultimate and proximate analysis of pyrolysed samples of feed sizes 400, 1600 and 3600 mm2 have an average percentage value of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, surphur, moisture content, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash to be: 83.93, 4.99, 1.50, 0.54, 1.11, 1.09, 57.52, 34.66 and 6.77 respectively. The heating value and specific gravity of char produced are 36.10kJ/g and 497.00 kg/m3respectively, while that of raw tyre samples are 36.10 kJ/g and 343.00 kg/m3 respectively. The higher heating value of char produced makes it a more viable choice for energy production