Conversion of waste biomass and waste nitrile gloves into renewable fuel

The present study deals co-pyrolysis of neem seeds (NM) and waste nitrile gloves (WNG) in a semi-batch reactor with and without catalysts. Results confirmed that the yield of pyrolytic liquid was higher (43.52 wt% at NM: WNG ratio of 3:1) during thermal co-pyrolysis compared to that of catalytic co-pyrolysis (40.42 wt% and 37.14 wt% respectively with CaO and Al₂O₃ as catalysts). The use of catalysts increased the carbon content, acidity, and heating value and reduced the oxygen content, viscosity, and density of the pyrolytic oil. FTIR analysis suggested the presence of useful functional groups while ¹H NMR analysis confirmed high amounts of paraffin and aromatic compounds in the pyrolytic oil. GC-MS analysis of pyrolytic oil confirmed that blending of NM + WNG and use of catalysts reduced the oxygenated compounds and increased the alcohol and aldehyde thereby enhancing the fuel properties.