Selective production of phenol from the end-of-life wind turbine blade through catalytic pyrolysis

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 378; p. 132877
• Main Authors: Li, Ji-hong, Jiang, Hao, Chen, Wei-wei, Wu, Ya-chang, Xu, Ming-xin, Di, Jin-yi, Li, Wei, Lu, Qiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.12.2024
• Subjects: Catalytic pyrolysis; End-of-life wind turbine blade; NiAl2O4 crystals; NiO/Al2O3 catalyst; Phenol; NiAl2O4 crystals; Phenol; NiO/Al2O3 catalyst; End-of-life wind turbine blade; Catalytic pyrolysis
• ISSN: 0016-2361
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2024.132877

•NiO(10)/Al2O3 was optimal to enhance phenol production in the pyrolysis of WTBs.•The yield of phenol depended on both its catalytic formation and secondary cracking.•The loaded NiO predominantly formed NiAl2O4 crystals with the Al2O3 carrier.•The NiO crystals with high catalytic activity mainly generated Lewis acidic sites.•Excess strong acid sites and lattice oxygen caused secondary cracking of phenol. This study employed catalytic pyrolysis to enhance the selectivity and yield of phenol in the pyrolysis oil derived from the end-of-life wind turbine blade (WTB). It was confirmed that the NiO(10)/Al2O3 catalyst exhibited the best activity, reaching a phenol selectivity of 28.57 % at 500 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C/min. Furthermore, a competitive phenomenon between the catalytic formation of phenol and that of gaseous products was observed. Characterization results indicated that at lower loading content of NiO on the Al2O3 carrier, NiAl2O4 crystals tended to form preferentially, which reduced catalyst activity by covering surface strong acid sites. With increasing the loading content of NiO, saturation of NiAl2O4 formation occurred, and free NiO crystals became dominant. This resulted in the creation of abundant Lewis acid sites, enhancing the catalytic formation of phenol. Whilst, excessive accumulation of free NiO crystals increased strong acid sites and significantly generated lattice oxygen, promoting the cracking of pyrolysis oil to gaseous products, which was detrimental to phenol enrichment but facilitated the production of H2-rich syngas. The conclusions offered valuable insights for upgrading pyrolysis products derived from epoxy resin polymers during the recovery of end-of-life WTB.