Pyrolysis of scrap tyres and evaluation of pyrolytic char

The conversion of hazardous wastes such as scrap car tyre, scrap truck tyre, bilge water and oily sludge into products providing environmental and economic benefits were studied in this thesis. In the first experimental section, pyrolysis process which is one of the most convenient processes for the conversion of these kinds of wastes into useful products such as fuels or activated carbons was applied. In addition, co-pyrolysis experiments of scrap tyres and oily wastes were also carried out. High heating calorific values of the pyrolysis products were found to be around 28 MJ/kg for chars and 43 MJ/kg for oil. The utilization of the char, obtained from pyrolysis of scrap car tyre, as activated carbon was investigated in the second experimental section. For the purpose of activation of the char; cyclic activation, chemical activation and physical activation methods were used. No significant improvement on the surface properties of the activated chars was observed. In the last section of the study; combustion behaviours of the scrap tyre and its char were investigated by using thermogravimetric analyser and lab-scale reactor. In addition, the co-combustion of the char with the other carbonaceous matters (lignite and poultry litter char) were also investigated. Addition of poultry litter char into fuel blends led to significant reduction of the SOx emissions. Keywords: Scrap tyres, oily wastes, poultry litter, pyrolysis, activation, combustion.