Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Microwave pyrolysis, a novel process for recycling waste automotive engine oil
Su Shiung Lam a, *, Alan D. Russell a, Howard A. Chase a
a

Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 14 August 2009
Received in revised form
16 March 2010
Accepted 17 March 2010
Available online 21 April 2010

Used automotive engine oil was treated using a microwave-induced pyrolysis process, with the intention
of assessing the suitability of the process in recovering valuable products from this otherwise difcult to
dispose of waste. The resulting pyrolysis gases were condensed into liquid oil; the yield and composition
of the recovered oil and remaining incondensable gases were determined, and these were compared
with those arising from fresh oil. Process temperature was shown to have a signicant effect on the
overall yield and formation of the recovered oils. The recovered liquid and gaseous pyrolysis products
contained various light hydrocarbons which could be used as a valuable fuel and as an industrial
feedstock. Our results indicate that microwave pyrolysis shows extreme promise as a means for
disposing of problematic waste oil. The recovery of commercially valuable products shows advantage
over traditional, more destructive disposal methods, and suggests excellent potential for scaling the
process to the commercial level.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Pyrolysis
Microwave heating
Waste engine oil
Waste to energy
Recycling waste

1. Introduction
Waste automotive engine oil (WAO) is an environmentally
hazardous, high-volume waste that is difcult to treat and dispose
of due to the presence of undesirable species such as soot, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and impurities from additives
such as chlorinated parafns and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
On a global basis, nearly 24 million tonnes of WAO are generated
each year [1].
Existing treatment processes for WAO, such as incineration and
hydro-treating, are becoming increasingly impracticable as
concerns over environmental pollution and additional sludge
disposal are recognised [2,3]. Although several studies have revealed
the potential of pyrolysis as a disposal method for waste oil [4,5], the
use of this technology is not widespread at the present time.
Microwave-induced pyrolysis (MP) is a relatively new process
that was initially developed by Tech-En Ltd in Hainault, UK; this
anaerobic thermal treatment uses a microwave-heated bed of
particulate carbon, and has been shown to be an effective method
of recovering useful chemicals present in wastes such as plastics
[6]. Microwave pyrolysis is able to treat various kinds of real-world
waste more effectively than traditional pyrolysis processes by
facilitating a more efcient transfer of heat to the waste, offering
exceptional control over the heating process, and by providing
a strong reducing chemical environment that reduces the

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 44 (0)1223 330 132; fax: 44 (0)1223 334 796.
E-mail addresses: sushiung@gmail.com, ssl28@cam.ac.uk (S.S. Lam).
0360-5442/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2010.03.033

formation of undesirable species. These factors have the potential

to increase yields of desirable pyrolysis products such as gaseous
and liquid hydrocarbons; these can then be treated and used as
valuable industrial feedstock while simultaneously recycling
otherwise difcult to dispose of waste.
While studies have been conducted using microwave pyrolysis
to treat other wastes [7,8], we believe this is the rst application of
the technology to WAO. This work has been conducted in order to
assess the technical and economic feasibility of using MP to treat
and recycle WAO.

2. Experimental
2.1. Apparatus
The experimental apparatus developed and used during this
investigation is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of a modied catering
microwave oven (1) with a maximum power output of 5 kW. The
oven has 4 magnetrons, each of which is controlled by a separate
switch such that the power output can be controlled to 25, 50, or
75% of the maximum, with a continuous generation of microwaves
rather than with on/off cycles. The reactor (2) is a quartz vessel of
180 mm diameter. This vessel is placed in a moulded base made of
a microwave-transparent heat insulating material (VF1500AK
prered, M. H. Detrick, Mokena, IL). The reactor has an agitation
system that consists of an impeller with two 45
pitched blades,
11-mm-diameter (pipe) stainless steel shaft, and a motor (3) with
a maximum speed of 6 rpm.

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S.S. Lam et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

Nomenclature
ANOVA
BTX
FAO
I.D.
n.d.
WAO
N.R.
PAHs
PCBs
SD
TIC%
GC-MS

one-way analysis of variance

benzene, toluene, xylene
fresh automotive engine oil
internal diameter
not detectable
waste automotive engine oil
not reported
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
polychlorinated biphenyls
standard deviation
total ion content percentage
gas chromatographyemass spectroscopy

The temperature of the carbon load in the system is monitored

using two thermocouples; one is ducted into the carbon through
the centre of the shaft, the other enters the reaction chamber
through a port on the top of the reactor. Both thermocouples are in
direct contact with the carbon inside the reactor. The thermocouples are connected via a data acquisition card (DT302, Data Translation, Marlboro, MA) to a computer that runs a control program
developed in the VEE package (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA).
This software reads the temperature at a rate of 100 Hz, averages
the readings, and sends on/off commands back to the magnetrons
to maintain the desired temperature. The reactor is gravity-fed with
the waste oil using the injection vessel (4). Valves permit inert
helium gas to purge the incoming material of oxygen to avoid any
combustion occurring in the reactor. The ow rate of the purging
gas is monitored using a rotameter. The pyrolysis products leave the
reactor and pass through a system of three water-cooled Liebig
condensers (5,6,7), which collect condensed hydrocarbons in main
and secondary collection asks (8,9). The pyrolysis gases then ow
through a cold trap (10); the remaining non-condensable gases are
passed through a cotton wool lter (11) to collect any aerosols
present before being vented from the system.
2.2. Materials and methods
Shell 10W/40 highly rened base oil was used throughout the
experiments. The WAO was collected from an MG ZT diesel car
driven for approximately 23,000 km. Before pyrolysis, the oil
samples were ltered to <0.45 mm to remove metal particles,

carbon soot, and other impurities; volatiles and water were eliminated by heating at 110
C.
Particulate carbon (TIMREX FC250 Coke, TIMCAL Ltd, Bodio,
Switzerland) was used as a microwave absorbent to heat the WAO;
this was pre-heated to 800
C for 45 min to remove any water and
sulphur-containing compounds. Detailed specications of the
carbon are presented in Table 1.
2.2.1. Experimental procedure
One kilogram of carbon was placed into the quartz reactor. The
apparatus was assembled as in Fig. 1, and nitrogen gas was vented
through the apparatus at a ow rate of 0.2 l/min. A complete purge
of air was ensured by washing out the system for at least 10 min
before heating. The bed of carbon particles was stirred by the
agitator at 6 rpm. The carbon was heated to temperatures ranging
from 250 to 700
C, and maintained within 1% of the target
temperature by computer control. Once the target temperature was
attained the reactor was left for 5 min to ensure complete
temperature equilibration, the oil sample was then injected into the
reactor. During the experiment gas was sampled after the lter
(Fig. 1) into 10 l bags for later analysis.
When the accumulation of liquid product had stopped and
gaseous products were no longer observed in the system the
reactor was visually inspected to ensure that the reaction was fully
completed. This was deemed to be the case if no oil sample
remained in the reactor and the carbon appeared dry and without
sticky texture. Once the reaction had nished, the microwave
oven was switched off and cooled with the aid of a fan. The
nitrogen ow was continued until the reactor reached a temperature of 80
C. The reactor was then disconnected from the
condensation system and sealed to prevent contact of the carbon
with air.
The yield of solid product was determined by measurement of
the weight change in the reactor (no solid products were observed
to have left the reactor). The yield of liquid product was determined
by measuring the weight increase in the collecting vessels and
lter. The yield of gaseous product was determined by mass
balance and assumes that whatever mass of added sample not
accounted for by the solid and liquid product measurements had
left the system in gaseous form.
The data recorded are the average of the results obtained from
three valid repeated runs conducted under identical conditions.
Later, the pyrolysis products were analyzed by gas chromatographyemass spectroscopy (GC-MS) to identify their chemical
composition.

Fig. 1. Schematic layout of bench-scale microwave-induced pyrolysis system.

S.S. Lam et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

2987

3. Results and discussion

Table 1
Characteristics of particulate carbon.
Parameter

Carbon (TIMREX FC250 Coke as provided by TIMCAL Ltd)

Carbon
Ash
Moisture
Sulphur
Sieve size
Density

99.10e99.91 wt%
0.07e0.30 wt%
0.02e0.60 wt%
1.3 wt%
<250 mm (2% >250 mm, 75% >125 mm, 85% >90 mm)
0.80e0.91 g/cm3

Data analyses were performed using the SPSS ver. 13.0 statistical
package (SPSS Inc. USA) assuming statistical signicance if P < 0.05.
Data are presented as mean  SD and were subjected to one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) [9]. Duncans multiple range test was
used to compare mean yields in order to identify signicant
differences [10].
2.3. Product analysis
Samples of the liquid products were transferred into 1 ml vials
without using solvents and analyzed using a 6890/5973 GC-MS
instrument (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA). Before injection
the 1 ml samples were heated to 80
C to ensure complete liquication; 2 ml of the heated samples were then injected into the GCMS using a 10 ml syringe that was also heated to 80
C. The GC-MS
was operated in non-isothermal mode, ramping from 30 to 325
C
using a HP-5MS 30 m fused silica capillary column (cross-linked 5%
PH ME siloxane, I.D. 0.25 mm, lm thickness 0.25 mm). Gas samples
were analyzed in isothermal mode at 40
C using an HP-5 60 m
column (cross-linked 5% PH ME siloxane, I.D. 0.25 mm, lm thickness 1.0 mm). The carrier gas used was helium (analytical grade)
with a constant ow rate of 1.1 ml/min.
The total ion chromatogram produced for each sample was
analyzed using Agilent ChemStation analysis software and the
Wiley library of mass spectra (6th edition). The chromatograph
integrator was programmed in two different modes, allowing the
quantication of compounds by both species and size. In this way,
a single GC-MS analysis permitted the identication of the products
and the classication of the sample by chain length. The GC-MS
was not calibrated for the individual compounds in the samples;
hence, the compounds are quantied as total ion content
percentage (TIC%) d an integration of the chromatograms peaks.
While this should not be confused with a weight percentage (wt%),
this gure still gives a good approximation of the composition of
the sample [6].

3.1. Automotive engine oil before pyrolysis treatment

Fresh automotive engine oil (FAO) and WAO were characterized
by GC-MS before being subjected to pyrolysis. The GC-MS chromatograms of the hydrocarbon compounds for both the oils had
broad bell-shaped curves with retention times from 40 to 70 min
(Fig. 2). Due to the complexity of the oil sample matrix, the noise
level in the chromatograms was relatively high for both types of
oil; similar ndings were reported by Dominguez-Rosado and
Pichtel [11]. This noise hindered identication of some of the
abundant peaks present in the chromatograms. However, it can be
seen from the gure that a greater number and intensity of peaks
were observed in chromatograms for WAO compared with those
for FAO.
For comparison purposes, peaks were categorized into ve
groups: linear parafns lower than C24 (<C24), linear and branched
parafns higher than C24 (>C24), compounds with double bonds,
cyclic compounds (aliphatic hydrocarbons with cyclic structure
where carbon atoms are joined in non-aromatic rings), and
aromatic compounds (e.g. benzene derivatives and PAHs). As
shown in Table 2, most of the peaks were identied as linear and
branched parafns >C24 for both FAO and WAO. Gmez-Rico et al.
[1] also reported that WAO was mostly composed of heavy parafns
higher than C24.
Interestingly, WAO shows a lower composition of >C24 species
than FAO. It is thought that some of the heavier hydrocarbons were
converted to lighter hydrocarbons due to the high temperature and
pressures experienced while acting as engine lubricant; similar
results were obtained by Kim et al. [4]. Both FAO and WAO show
similar amounts of compounds with double bonds. The aromatic
compounds represent 1.3% of the hydrocarbons present in WAO,
which is a somewhat higher percentage than the 0.9% found in FAO.
The aromatics consist of light compounds such as benzene and
naphthalene derivatives. In summary, linear and branched parafns
are the predominant hydrocarbon structures in the composition of
both FAO and WAO.
3.2. Visual inspection of pyrolysis product
Different condensable pyrolysis products were generated by
WAO and FAO. The FAO produced homogenous dark brown oils,
whereas the WAO generated a dilute oil product with two phases:
a light brown phase on top of a darker brown phase (Fig. 3); the two

Fig. 2. GC-MS chromatograms of fresh (left) and waste (right) automotive engine oil.

2988

S.S. Lam et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

Table 2
Main compounds identied for fresh and waste automotive engine oil (peak area %).
Sample

WAOc
WAO [15] WAO [4] WAO [1]
FAOb
(this study) (this study)

Linear (<C24)
1.9
Linear and branched 96.6
parafns (>C24)
Double bonds
0.1
Cyclics
0.5
Aromatics
0.9
a
b
c

12.2
85.8

5.7
90.2

16.6
83.4

16.4
83.6

0.1
0.6
1.3

0.2
0.1
1.2

N.R.a
N.R.
N.R.

N.R.
N.R.
N.R.

N.R. e not reported.

FAO e fresh oil.
WAO e waste oil.

Table 3
Product yields (wt%) from microwave-induced pyrolysis of waste automotive engine
oil and the results reported in literature on conventional pyrolysis processes.
Temperature
(
C)

Solidsa
(wt%)c

Gasesb
(wt%)c

Liquid: oils/waxes
(wt%)c

(ml)c

400
450
500
550
600

67  4G
46  2F
16  1E
5  0A
7  0B
5
3
9  0C
5
10  0D
8

25  3A
26  2A
26  3A
26  2A
28  2B
35
50
36  3C
60
56  3D
49

8  3A
28  2B
58  2D
69  2F
65  1E
60
46
55  3D
36
34  3C
44

7  1A
18  1B
35  1E
43  1G
42  1F
N.R.d
N.R.
33  1D
N.R.
21  1C
N.R.

650
700

phases were not immiscible. It is believed that the light brown

phase was formed from the higher quantities of lighter hydrocarbons (12% of <C24, see Table 2) present in the WAO.
3.3. Product yield
Table 3 presents the product yields of WAO pyrolysis obtained in
this study together with the results of other researchers using
conventional pyrolysis apparatus such as tubular and uidized bed
reactors. Data are not recorded for temperatures of 350
C and
below, as although some degradation occurred and a small amount
of gas was produced, no liquid products were produced after 1 h of
reaction time; so the experiments were stopped.
At temperatures between 400 and 500
C, the liquid yield
increased with increasing temperature. It is thought that the lower
liquid yields at these temperatures can be accounted for by
incomplete decomposition, resulting in less WAO being pyrolysed
into gases for later condensation. The incomplete decomposition
process could also be inferred from the high yields of solid product
at these temperatures; the apparent increase in solid product in
these cases is actually a mixture of residual unpyrolysed WAO oils
and char. At higher process temperatures (500
C), the yield of
material remaining within the reactor decreased dramatically as
more complete pyrolysis of the WAO occurred, allowing the WAO to
vaporise, leave the reactor and recondense into liquid product.
For temperatures between 550 and 700
C, the differences in the
yields obtained can be explained by assuming that higher
temperatures cause a higher degree of molecular cleavage and
a higher corresponding yield of gases. These results are in agreement with the ndings of other workers [12,13]. At these high
temperatures, the solids retained within the reactor are likely to be
chars, the amounts of which increase with temperature as reported
by Lzaro et al. [14] and are the result of increased rates of tertiary
cracking reactions.

Reference

This study

This study
[12]
[15]
This study
[12]
This study
[14]

a
Solids e between 400 and 500
C, they are considered as unpyrolysed oils and
char; at 550
C and above, only chars are considered.
b
Gas yields were calculated by mass balance of the product yields (i.e. gas
yield 100% of WAO  (liquid yield solid yield)).
c
Values are means  SD of three valid runs (N 3) and means with the same
superscript in the same column are not statistically different (P > 0.05).
d
N.R. e not reported.

The highest liquid yield (69 wt%) was observed at 550
C. It is

supposed that this represents the optimum balance between
sufciently high temperatures to produce condensable vapour,
while not being so high as to promote secondary cracking. Overall,
the amounts of liquid products recovered from the pyrolysis of
WAO using microwave pyrolysis in this study were greater than the
amounts reported in other literature except for the experiments
conducted at 700
C, representing a greater potential source of
useful industrial feedstock.
3.4. Comparison between WAO and FAO
Fig. 4 compares the results obtained from the pyrolysis of FAO
and WAO at 550
C. WAO (which contains a higher <C24 composition) presents a lower yield of gaseous product compared to FAO.
This is contrary to the ndings by Nern et al. [15] who reported
higher gas yields from waste oil containing a higher content of
smaller hydrocarbons. Our observations may be due to the shorter
hydrocarbons (present in greater quantities in WAO) evaporating
and leaving the reactor without being cracked, resulting in greater
liquid yields.
Whether or not the hydrocarbons are cracked or simply evaporate, gas production will occur more quickly in WAO than FAO as it
contains shorter molecules on average. More rapid production of
gases causes increased pressure inside the reactor, which in turn

Fig. 3. Liquid oil product from microwave-induced pyrolysis of fresh (left) and waste (right) automotive engine oil.

S.S. Lam et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

100%

Fresh oil

90%

Product yield (wt%)

2989

Waste oil

80%

69%

70%
60%

51%

50%
37%

40%

26%

30%
20%
10%

12%
5%

0%
Solid: Char

Liquid: Oil/Waxes

Gases

Fig. 4. Product yield (wt%) of microwave-induced pyrolysis of fresh and waste automotive engine oil at 550
C.

causes more rapid ow of those gases out of the reaction zone. The
decreased residence time decreases the potential for the
compounds to be cracked and helps to explain the greater liquid
yield and smaller gaseous yield observed in WAO over FAO. This
agrees with Kim and Kim [2], who noticed in their WAO pyrolysis
study that higher yields of gaseous products were achieved when
the primary volatiles remained in the high temperature reaction
zone for a longer period of time, and has also been observed during
the pyrolysis of other materials such as plastic wastes [8].
Overall, the comparison presented in Fig. 4 indicates that the
chemical composition, especially the content of high and low
molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds (>C24 and <C24), has
a signicant effect on the overall yield of pyrolysis products.

xylene and alkylbenzene show a decrease with temperature from

550
C onwards. In addition, it can be seen that BTX increases
signicantly with temperature, although the amounts of liquid
products were lower at higher temperatures as observed in
previous sections. This is most likely due to the presence of
unconverted oil (i.e. compounds within the oil that havent had
their molecular structure changed during the pyrolysis process) in
the liquid product at lower temperatures, which leads to a higher
liquid yield; GC-MS analysis showed that the liquid products
contained considerable quantities of linear hydrocarbons found in
unprocessed oil (Table 4).
The main implication is that a very high temperature is not
required to produce valuable products with the microwave pyrolysis apparatus. Overall, the results indicated that increasing

3.5. Product chemical composition

Table 4 demonstrates the yields of specic compounds obtained
at different process temperatures in the pyrolysis products.
Temperature has a great inuence on both the size of the molecules
produced and the fraction of original oil converted to gas and liquid
products.
With respect to the gaseous products, some interesting
compounds corresponding to C2eC4 olens were detected, namely,
ethylene, propylene, butenes, and butadiene. In particular, the
yields of ethylene and propylene were found to be proportionally
high compared to other gaseous compounds even at the lowest
temperature (500
C). In addition, the amounts of these two
compounds together with methane were found to increase with
increasing temperature. This observation is particularly interesting
considering the high chemical value of ethylene and propylene.
Furthermore, it is thought that these three compounds comprise
the bulk of the increased yields of gases at higher temperatures as
previously mentioned (see Section 3.3). On the whole, the increase
of process temperature brings about higher production of light
hydrocarbons such as methane and ethylene in the gaseous
products. These light olens represent potential high-value
chemical feedstock. For example, if the microwave pyrolysis of
WAO were to be carried out near a petroleum renery, the resulting
gaseous products could be added to the renery feedstock for
further processing and upgrading. If renement to higher value
products was not possible, these gases could be used as a fuel
source d either to power the generation of electricity for the
microwave pyrolysis process itself or to be sold into the wider
electrical grid.
Valuable light aromatics such as BTX and benzene derivatives
comprised a signicant portion of the liquid products even at the
lowest reaction temperature. The yields of benzene and toluene
were found to increase with increasing temperature, whereas

Table 4
Yields of product (TIC%) obtained in microwave-induced pyrolysis of fresh and waste
automotive engine oil in relation to different process temperatures.
Compound

WAOa

FAOb

500
C 550
C 600
C 650
C 550
C 600
C 650
C

Gases
CH4
C2H6
Ethylene (C2H4)d
C3H8
Propylene (C3H6)d
Butanes (C4H10)
Butenes (C3H8)d
1,3 Butadiene (C4H6)d

10.0
3.1
25.4
n.d.c
25.0
2.3
14.2
8.5

14.6
3.5
30.8
1.2
27.7
n.d.
13.5
4.2

16.6
7.5
33.7
n.d.
28.8
n.d.
6.4
5.4

18.5
5.6
35.5
1.6
30.9
0.3
4.7
3.8

14.9
3.5
31.9
1.6
28.6
n.d.
12.4
5.4

17.1
4.6
34.6
1.2
29.3
n.d.
8.0
4.1

19.1
5.3
35.6
2.3
31.2
n.d.
3.3
2.8

n.d.
1.5
33.2
17.2
18.5
6.3
8.7
42.0

4.5
6.7
40.6
9.0
10.2
9.2
15.9
28.4

2.8
3.7
40.7
10.7
12.6
7.8
12.8
31.1

n.d.
n.d.
38.4
12.1
14.7
7.0
10.7
33.8

Literaturef
C2H4: 31.5% for 600
C [12,14,15]
C3H6: 25.2% for 600
C [12,14,15]
C5 and C6: 15.4% for 600
C [12,14,15]
Liquids
2.6
C5g
4.8
C6g
Linear hydrocarbonse 51.9
Benzene
5.5
Toluene
6.4
Xylene
6.6
18.1
Alkylbenzenesh
18.5
BTXi
a

3.3
5.7
40.9
9.7
10.3
9.4
22.2
29.4

2.5
3.4
36.9
12.0
13.1
9.1
17.9
34.2

FAO e fresh automotive engine oil.

WAO e waste automotive engine oil.
n.d. e not detectable.
d
Olens e alkenes, dialkenes.
e
Linear hydrocarbons e alkanes or parafns.
f
The data from literature were recalculated as TIC% from wt%.
g
C5 and C6 were detected in the gas fraction; however, they are included in the
liquid yield as those compounds can be condensed.
h
Alkylbenzenes e ethylbenzene , propylbenzene, methylethylbenzene.
i
BTX e the sum of benzene, toluene, and xylene.
b
c

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S.S. Lam et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

temperature decreases alkyl derivative yields while increasing the

yields of aromatics in the liquid product. The benet of pyrolysing
WAO at very high temperatures to increase the yield of valuable
aromatic compounds is negated by the signicant decrease in total
liquid product in these conditions. In practice a temperature should
be selected in which optimum production of valuable liquid products is obtained, comprising the highest yield of liquid while
optimizing the yields of valuable aromatics (BTX) in the liquid
product.
3.5.1. Valuable compounds
The following compounds obtained using the MP process were
singled out for further analysis due to their economic value and
wide use in various industrial applications: ethylene, propylene, 1,3
butadiene, benzene, toluene, xylene and alkylbenzenes. Table 5
compares the yield of these compounds obtained in MP of WAO
over 500e650
C. The yields from FAO were not considered as it is
not of interest to recover any compounds from the FAO.
As shown in Table 5, microwave pyrolysis at 650
C was found to
produce the highest sum of these valuable compounds (53.3%).
Increasing temperature above 550
C did change the relative
proportions of these chemicals (e.g. increasing ethylene and
propylene while decreasing alkylbenzenes) but made little difference to the total quantity recovered. A signicant conclusion is that
the total amount of the valuable compounds obtained in microwave pyrolysis is less inuenced by temperature at these process
temperatures.
3.6. Energy recovery
Table 6 shows the caloric value of the pyrolysis product estimated from the specic compounds obtained in the pyrolysis
products, and Table 7 demonstrates the energy recovery estimated
in the microwave pyrolysis process. It should be mentioned that the
calculations involved are limited by the following factors:
(1) Electrical consumption is based on the nominal output of 2
magnetrons (2.5 kW).
(2) Heat losses from the prototype reactor are substantial and
would not be representative of the losses that would occur at
pilot or industrial scale. No attempt has been made to recover
energy during the cooling of the products in the condensation
system.
(3) Pilot or industrial scale operation would involve either the
sequential or continuous addition of sample without the need
to repetitively heat the apparatus from room temperature.
Calculations that include the electrical energy used to heat the
reactor to the desired process temperature will seriously
overestimate the actual electrical consumption during pilot or
industrial scale; hence, this energy expenditure is excluded
from the energy recovery shown in Table 7.
Table 5
Yieldsa (wt%) of valuable compounds in microwave-induced pyrolysis of waste
automotive engine oil.
Valuable compounds

500
C

550
C

600
C

650
C

C2H4
Propylene (C3H6)
1,3 Butadiene (C4H6)
Benzene
Toluene
Xylene
Alkylbenzenes
Sum

6.6
6.5
2.2
3.2
3.7
3.8
10.5
36.5

8.0
7.2
1.1
6.7
7.1
6.5
15.3
51.9

9.4
8.1
1.5
7.8
8.5
5.9
11.6
52.8

12.8
11.1
1.4
9.5
10.2
3.5
4.8
53.3

a
Yields were calculated based on the TIC% in Table 4 and wt% of gas or liquid yield
obtained in Table 3 (see Section 3.3), i.e. TIC%  wt%/100.

Table 6
Estimated caloric value (Ecv)a of the liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon products.
GCVb
(kJ/g)

Compound

Gases
Methane
Ethane
Ethene (C2H4)
Propane
Propene (C3H6)
Butanes (C4H10)
Butenes (C4H8)
1,3 Butadiene (C4H6)
Egase e sum of Ecv gases
Liquids
Linear hydrocarbons
Benzene
Toluene
Xylene
Alkylbenzenes
Eliquidf e sum of Ecv liquids

Ecv (kJ)
500
C

550
C

600
C

650
C

55.5
51.9
50.3
50.3
48.9
49.5
48.4
47.0

13.4 gc
74.3
21.5
170.9
n.a.g
163.6
15.2
92.0
53.4
591.0

14.7 gc
119.3
26.7
227.9
8.9
199.3
n.a.
96.2
29.0
707.2

15.2 gc
140.4
59.3
258.2
n.a.
214.5
n.a.
47.2
38.6
758.2

20.0 gc
205.8
58.2
357.7
16.1
302.7
3.0
45.6
35.7
1024.8

46.0
41.8
40.6
40.8
41.0

29.0 gd
692.6
66.7
75.4
78.1
215.5
1128.2

34.7 gd
653.0
140.7
145.1
133.1
316.2
1388.2

32.8 gd
556.9
164.6
174.5
121.8
241.0
1258.8

27.9 gd
425.9
200.5
209.4
71.7
99.6
1007.1

a
Ecv was calculated based on the TIC% in Table 4, GCV and gas or liquid hydrocarbon product yield in Table 3, i.e. TIC%  GCV  gas or liquid yield/100.
b
GCV e gross caloric value of compound obtained from NIST Chemistry Web
Book.
c
Mass of gaseous hydrocarbon product yield (g).
d
Mass of liquid hydrocarbon product yield (g).
e
Eliquid e estimated caloric value of the liquid hydrocarbon product.
f
Egas e estimated caloric value of the gaseous hydrocarbon product.
g
n.a. e not available.

Even given the limitations involved in estimating energy

consumption from the laboratory scale equipment described above,
it is clear that the process is capable of recovering hydrocarbon
products whose caloric value is many times greater than the
amount of electrical energy used in the operation of the process.
This will be even more apparent during the operation of pilot or
industrial scale equipment in which attempts to improve heat
integration and recovery have been implemented.
In summary, the results show that microwave-induced pyrolysis
of waste automotive engine oil is able to produce signicant
quantities of commercially valuable products such as light olens,
gaseous hydrocarbon and liquid hydrocarbon oils containing BTX
and benzene derivatives; these products can be treated and used as
either an energy source or industrial feedstock. The study also
revealed that higher amounts of light olens (i.e. ethylene and
propylene) and fewer C5 and C6 compounds were obtained with
our microwave pyrolysis process compared with other conventional pyrolysis (Table 4), suggesting that cracking reactions are
enhanced in microwave pyrolysis. Five hundred and fty degree
celsius seems to be the ideal temperature for WAO pyrolysis based
on the highest yield of valuable compounds in the liquid product
and lower heating energy requirements at this temperature.
Table 7
Energy recovery in microwave-induced pyrolysis of waste automotive engine oil.
T (
C)

Epyrolysisa
(kJ)

Eliquidb
(kJ)

Egasc
(kJ)

Ecv totald
(kJ)

Ecv total/
Epyrolysis

500
550
600
650

472.5
412.5
382.5
247.5

1128.2
1388.2
1258.8
1007.1

591.0
707.2
758.2
1024.8

1719.3
2095.5
2017.0
2032.0

3.6
5.1
5.3
8.2

a
Epyrolysis e electrical energy consumed during the pyrolysis treatment of the
added WAO sample (estimated during the time the sample started to be/was added
to the reactor until the reaction was deemed complete); microwave power output e
2.5 kW.
b
Eliquid e estimated caloric value of the liquid hydrocarbon product (see Table 6).
c
Egas e estimated caloric value of the gaseous hydrocarbon product (see Table 6).
d
Ecv total etotal caloric value of pyrolysis product (i.e. the sum of Eliquid and Egas).

S.S. Lam et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2985e2991

2991

4. Conclusions

References

Both fresh and waste automotive engine oil are mostly composed
of linear and branched parafns (85.8%), making them suitable
candidates for pyrolysis, where the long-chained organic compounds
are capable of being converted into smaller, valuable compounds.
Microwave-induced pyrolysis of automotive oils produces
signicant amounts of valuable products: gaseous hydrocarbons
with light olens, and liquid hydrocarbon oils containing BTX and
benzene derivatives. Increasing the temperature was found to
enhance the production of light gaseous and aromatic compounds,
although the amount of liquid products was lower at higher
temperatures. Overall, temperature has a signicant inuence on
the overall yield and formation of the recovered pyrolysis gases and
liquid oils. Valuable products were obtained from pyrolysis of the
waste oil, and the microwave pyrolysis process showed improved
cracking reactions compared with conventional pyrolysis processes.
It is evident that microwave-induced pyrolysis has huge
potential as a means of recovering commercially valuable products
from problematic waste oil, in addition to diverting waste streams
from current environmentally-harmful disposal techniques such as
landlling and incineration. Future studies will involve research
into possible improvements to scale up our laboratory process to
a useful industrial level. It is hoped that microwave-induced
pyrolysis will offer a practical contribution to the challenge of
redesigning human civilisation for sustainability, by maximising
usage of our planets nite resources.

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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to BP p.l.c. (UK) and Enval Ltd for the
invaluable advice, materials, and nancial support of this project.
Su Shiung Lam acknowledges the prestigious King Scholarship
offered by Malaysia Government, and University Malaysia Terengganu for the nancial assistance provided.