Thermaland kinetic study of tyre waste pyrolysis via TG-FTIR-MS analysis

The world production of tyre waste amounts to 5·10⁶ ton year^–1, 2·10⁶ tons of which are produced in Europe, but the final destination of nearly 65–70% of them is the landfill, despite the high added value materials lost and the consequent environmental impact. Treatments alternative to landfilling take into account reconstruction and reuse of the tyres or the matter and/or energy recovery by means of thermal treatment processes (incineration, gasification and pyrolysis). Among these, pyrolysis seems to be a promising and realistic alternative to attain the conversion of tyre waste into valuable and reusable products. Present work relates to experimental tests and results obtained for the study of tyre waste pyrolysis, conducted by means of thermo-gravimetric analysis (TG) of the material and the simultaneous determination, through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and mass spectrometry (MS), of the decomposition products. The analysis of the volatile fraction allows to isolate, within the thermograms, the evolution of products referable to specific tyre components and therefore it suggests the application of a multi-component decomposition model. The kinetic model consequently developed agrees fairly well with the experimental data.