Fuel oil from acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers using a tandem PEG-enhanced denitrogenation-pyrolysis method

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) was treated using a tandem poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-enhanced alkaline denitrogenation-pyrolysis method according to the structure and thermal degradation properties of ABS. This denitrogenated ABS (DABS) were pyrolyzed to produce clean fuels, such as fuel oils. The tandem PEG-enhanced alkaline denitrogenation-pyrolysis method possessed high denitrogenation efficiency under mild reaction conditions, which was beneficial to produce clean oil via pyrolysis. The DABS showed different thermal degradation behavior compared with ABS, i.e., thermal degradation at lower temperatures and better oil quality with almost 10 times lower quantities of heavy components. Optimization of the hydrolysis conditions will decrease the nitrogen content in DABS, stressing more the potential of this method for denitrogenation of N-containing polymers.