Modeling co-pyrolysis of petroleum coke and biomass: Product distribution and temperature sensitivity

Petroleum coke, also known as petcoke (PC), is a solid residue generated during crude oil refining and is regarded as a low-quality by-product of heavy oil upgrading. It possesses competitive calorific value, with low ash and hydrogen levels, and can be obtained at a low cost. Despite this, PC remains an underutilized material due to its health and environmental problems. It is thus important to develop innovative processes that enable the efficient valorization of this material. In the present study, co-pyrolysis of PC and biomass was investigated as a potential means of integrated energy recovery and waste minimization. Three kinds of biomass, namely date palm waste (DW), prickly pears (PP), and Tetraena coccinea (TC), were studied to evaluate their potential when co-pyrolyzed with PC. As a base case, simulations were conducted under specified conditions of a 50% PC–biomass blending ratio, 500°C, and 1 atm, using the Aspen Plus® software. Among the PC–biomass blends, PC–DW and PC–PP had the highest yield of char (∼63.2 wt%), whereas PC–TC had the highest yield of gaseous products (27.6 wt%). PC–TC exhibited the highest yield of pyrolysis oil reaching 17.3 wt%, which represents a 9.0 wt% increase compared to PC mono-pyrolysis. A sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effect of varying temperature on the distribution and composition of products. Overall, co-pyrolysis of PC and biomass could be a viable strategy to generate value-added products while reducing environmental problems of waste disposal.