Numerical simulation of plastic pyrolysis in fluidized bed reactors under continuous and batch-wise feeding

Numerical simulation of plastic pyrolysis in fluidized bed reactors under continuous and batch-wise feeding

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Muhao Li^a, Feichi Zhang^a^,^*, Thorsten Zirwes^b, Oliver T. Stein^c, Salar Tavakkol^a^,^**, Dieter Stapf^a

Particuology | 2026, 115 : 214 - 227

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Particuology | 2026, 115: 214-227

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Numerical simulation of plastic pyrolysis in fluidized bed reactors under continuous and batch-wise feeding

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Muhao Li^a, Feichi Zhang^a^,^*, Thorsten Zirwes^b, Oliver T. Stein^c, Salar Tavakkol^a^,^**, Dieter Stapf^a

Affiliations

^aInstitute for Technical Chemistry (ITC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstr.12, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

^bInstitute for Reactive Flows, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 31, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

^cEngler-Bunte-Institute (EBI), Division for Combustion Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Ring 7, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

Published: 2026-08-10 doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2026.05.017

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Abstract

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Numerical simulations were conducted to study the pyrolysis of polypropylene (PP) in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR). For that purpose, a Eulerian-Lagrangian solver was developed, incorporating the gas-solid hydrodynamics in FBR, particle-level heat transfer, and a five-lump pyrolysis reaction kinetic model. This framework captures the mutual interplay among these physicochemical processes and enables predicting the yields of permanent gas (G), light fraction (LF), and heavy fraction (HF). Analysis of the characteristic timescales confirms that the pyrolysis reaction is significantly slower than convective heat transfer. At 505 ℃, LF was the dominant product (67.4 wt%), followed by G (29.6 wt%) and HF (3 wt%), and the product distribution significantly shifted toward G formation with increasing reactor temperature. In contrast, variations in particle size (1.5-2.5 mm) and operation mode (batch-wise vs. continuous) affected the transient thermal behavior but had minor effects on product yields, as heat transfer is not rate-determining under the investigated conditions.

Key words

Eulerian-Lagrangian / Plastic pyrolysis / Fluidized bed reactor / Chemical recycling

Cite this Article

Muhao Li, Feichi Zhang, Thorsten Zirwes, Oliver T. Stein, Salar Tavakkol, Dieter Stapf. Numerical simulation of plastic pyrolysis in fluidized bed reactors under continuous and batch-wise feeding[J]. Particuology, 2026 , 115 : 214 -227 . DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2026.05.017

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Funding

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Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF)
Materials and Technologies for the Energy Transition (MTET)

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Year 2026 volume 115 Issue 0

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Article Info

doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2026.05.017

Receive Date：2025-11-29
Online Date：2026-08-20
Published：2026-08-10

Article Data

Affiliations

History

Received：2025-11-29
Revised：2026-05-07
Accepted：2026-05-25

Funding

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF)

Materials and Technologies for the Energy Transition (MTET)

Affiliations

^aInstitute for Technical Chemistry (ITC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstr.12, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

^bInstitute for Reactive Flows, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 31, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

^cEngler-Bunte-Institute (EBI), Division for Combustion Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Ring 7, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

Corresponding:

^* E-mail addresses: feichi.zhang@kit.edu (F. Zhang)

^** salar.tavakkol@kit.edu (S. Tavakkol).

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表12种不同金属材料的力学参数

科 Family	属数 Number of genus	种数 Number of species	占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%)	属 Genus	种数 Number of species	占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%)
鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae	2	11	5.26	鹅膏菌属 Amanita	10	4.78
小菇科 Mycenaceae	2	12	5.74	丝盖伞属 Inocybe	5	2.39
多孔菌科 Polyporaceae	8	14	6.70	蜡蘑属 Laccaria	5	2.39
红菇科 Russulaceae	3	23	11.00	小皮伞属 Marasmius	6	2.87
				小菇属 Mycena	11	5.26
				光柄菇属 Pluteus	5	2.39
				红菇属 Russula	17	8.13
				栓菌属 Trametes	5	2.39

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