Life cycle assessment of different waste-tire desulfurization processes to determine the process with minimum environmental impacts

A massive volume of trash tires is generated globally, posing an environmental hazard. This dictates the development of effective technologies to recycle and utilize them. Tires are non-biodegradable, inert materials that are incredibly hard to treat. Various processes have been developed in recent years to process, treat, and use this kind of trash. However, the key challenge is about finding an appropriate, ecologically acceptable process for the sulfur removal of products (gaseous, liquid, and solid). Due to the high sulfur concentration of pyrolysis oil, which is a liquid product, it is not appropriate for direct use as fuel. Thus, prior to usage, desulfurization of pyrolytic tire oil is a critical step. While there are some technologies for sulfur removal, they rely on hydrogen, which is an energy and carbon-intensive chemical to produce. As a result, this project will address this issue by undertaking a complete lifecycle evaluation of alternative desulfurization procedures, particularly innovative microwave-assisted sulfur removal technologies, in order to establish an effective method with the fewest possible environmental implications.

Faculty Supervisor:

Yaser Khojasteh

Student:

Partner:

Institut National des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Clean Technology; Green/Alternative Energy; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

Concordia University

Program: