The chemical kinetics of steam reforming of polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP) pyrolysis oil were studied using a ruthenium-based catalyst. The experiments were performed in a tubular flow reactor at temperatures of 530-680°C, Weight Hourly Space Velocities (WHSVs) of 0.453-7.916 h−1, and different steam and pyrolysis oil gas-phase concentrations. The activation energy of steam reforming of polypropylene oil and polystyrene oil is 136 and 142 kJ/mol, respectively. The reaction orders of polypropylene and polystyrene oils were 0.42 and 0.37, respectively. Conversions of polypropylene and polystyrene oils were 2.0-50.3 and 1.9-45.3%, respectively. Indeed, a Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) mechanism requiring the dissociative adsorption of pyrolysis oil and steam at two different sites on plastics appeared to be the most plausible pathway for the steam reforming reaction.

The chemical kinetics of the steam reforming of the pyrolysis oil of polypropylene (PP) over a ruthenium-based catalyst has been examined as a function of pyrolysis oil and steam partial pressures at various temperatures. The activation energy of steam reforming over Ru/Al2O3 catalyst is 136 kJ/mol, and the reaction orders of pyrolysis oil and steam are 0.42 and 0.24, respectively. Fitting the experimental data to the Langmuir?Hinshelwood expression shows that the steamreforming reaction probably proceeds via the dissociative adsorption of pyrolysis oil and steam on two different sites.