Upcycling approaches with olive and marble processing wastes symbiosis

Pyrolysis and composite production processes are alternative processes that can be applied to recover waste materials or their components with an industrial symbiosis approach and to provide upcycling. In this context, treatment sludge (MS) obtained from the physicochemical treatment of marble processing plant wastewater was tried as a catalyst in the pyrolysis of olive pomace (OP), which is olive oil production waste, in order to provide a symbiotic solution. Moreover, the upcycling potential of the end products of the catalytic pyrolysis has been revealed. In addition to the pyrolysis process, the effect of MS and OP wastes and catalytic pyrolysis chars in the production of thermoplastic matrix (PP) composite material has been evaluated. Physicochemical treatment sludge obtained by applying alum and FeCl3 to the travertine and white marble processing wastewaters and sludges produced using polyelectrolyte in the processing plant were used as a catalyst in OP pyrolysis processes at different temperatures (300°C, 400°C, 500°C, 600°C and 700°C) and doses (5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%). MS type (K1) obtained by physicochemical treatment of travertine processing wastewater with alum was more advantageous for OP catalytic pyrolysis process in terms of high pyrolysis product amount, high thermal resistance of pyrolysis char, higher aliphatic compounds in pyrolysis oil. It has been observed that OP+K1 pyrolysis chars have a higher potential to be used for different purposes due to their high inorganic content, alkalinity, thermal resistance, ash content, product amount comparing to conventional pyrolysis chars. Similarly, the upcycling potential of OP+K1 pyrolysis fluid phase was higher than conventional pyrolysis, thanks to its features such as obtaining valuable organic compounds (such as BTEX) with considerable amounts at lower temperatures in the pyrolysis fluid phase (pyrolysis oil+gas) in the presence of K1 and increasing the diversity of organic matter with upcycling potential. 10%, 20% or 30% K1 doses and 500°C, 600°C pyrolysis temperatures can be specified as optimum conditions in terms of both cost and upcycling potential of pyrolysis oils although most temperatures and catalyst doses studied in the thesis were suitable in terms of organic compounds having upcycling potential in the pyrolysis fluid phase. In order to investigate the effect of keeping the reactor in the system after pyrolysis in OP+K1 catalytic pyrolysis, pyrolysis experiments were carried out under selected conditions and retention time within the scope of the thesis.Surface roughness, pore number, calorific value and pore diameters of pyrolysis chars increased significantly with the retention time in conventional OP pyrolysis. On the other hand, sintering started to be observed with long-term retention in OP+K1 pyrolysis chars. Moreover, the diversity of organic compounds in OP+K1 pyrolysis oils obtained with pyrolysis process with retention considerably reduced compared to the pyrolysis without retention and the organic compounds with long chains and complex structures were increased.As a result, keeping the reactor in the system after pyrolysis caused more effective results in conventional pyrolysis compared to catalytic pyrolysis.It has been observed that the OP+K1 catalytic pyrolysis without retention was more advantageous than the pyrolysis with retention in terms of evaluating the pyrolysis end products with the upcycling approach. MS,OP, MS+OP and MS+CHAR as additive material, maleic anhydride modified PP (MAPP) as compatibilizer were used in the production of PP composites, respectively. Moreover, the effect of pretreatment (ionic liquid and preparation of OP oil maleate) on the OP additive material in terms of characteristic properties of the composite material was investigated in PLA matrix composites. Significant difference was not observed between marble sludge types in the composite samples where only marble sludge was used as an additive in the production of PP matrix composites; and the mechanical strength decreased and the thermal strength increased with the increase in the MS ratio. Similarly, increment in the amount of OP resulted in mechanical strength decrement and increment of thermal strength. The use of MAPP as a compatibilizer was mostly increased the mechanical, thermal strength and electrical conductivity values of PP matrix composite materials in which OP, MS and Pyrolysis chars were used as additives The application of ionic liquid pretreatment in PLA matrix composite materials, where OP was used as an additive material, increased the tensile strength and tensile elongation value of the composite material. Mechanical strength of composite obtained with 10% pyrolysis char, 90%PP and 1% MAPP was higher than the reference composite sample (100%PP) among all the composites samples. Two different study areas and alternative areas were selected for industrial symbiosis application of OP and MS wastes in Turkey. ArcGIS-Route and Closest Facility network analysis layer was used for determination of transportation distance of wastes from each facility to the suitable alternative industrial symbiosis areas. As a result of the study, the most suitable alternative areas to reduce the carbon footprint were the A-3 and A-2 regions where in the provinces of Konya and Antalya, which achieved 58% and 51.6% decrement in carbon footprint, respectively. Keywords: Catalytic pyrolysis, composite material, industrial symbiosis, marble sludge, olive pomace, upcycling