Desulfurizing of Pyrolysis Oil of Used Tires Using a 3D-Printed Vortex Diode and Modeling of Process

Abstract

The use of pyrolysis oil can be seen as an alternative fuel for maritime transport. However, pyrolysis oil from tires must be desulfurized for this. Recently, this can be done by hydrodynamic cavitation. This process does not require oxidation chemicals but only water, a cavitation generator, and a pump to drive it. In the literature, this concept has been successfully tested on model fuels. In this study, the cavitation generator for the desulfurization of waste tire pyrolysis oil was printed from polylactic acid-based on simulations of the optimal design, which allows for much cheaper production and easy replacement in case of wear or testing of alternative designs. After 60 min of treatment at 5 bar inlet pressure, a desulfurization of almost 33% was achieved. Furthermore, an interaction analysis showed that only from a pyrolysis oil content of 5.5 to 6% does hydrodynamic cavitation have an effective effect on desulfurization.

Keywords

• pyrolysis oil
• used tires
• fluid dynamics simulations
• hydrodynamic cavitation