Sequential Denitrogenation and Liquefaction of Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene via Two-Stage Hydrothermal Liquefaction Using Homogeneous Catalysts

Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (3) : 114 -124.

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Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (3) :114 -124. DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.12.037
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Sequential Denitrogenation and Liquefaction of Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene via Two-Stage Hydrothermal Liquefaction Using Homogeneous Catalysts
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Abstract

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a promising technology with huge potential for the chemical recycling of plastic waste. Herein, a two-stage sequential HTL process is proposed for the conversion of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) plastic to produce energy-dense oils with minimal nitrogen content. In the first step, ABS is denitrogenated using subcritical water (250–350 °C) and an alkaline potassium hydroxide (KOH) catalyst to produce solid product 1 (SP1) and aqueous phase 1 (AP1). A 95% denitrogenation efficiency of ABS is achieved at 325 °C in 20 min, with a catalyst load of 0.30 grams of KOH per gram of ABS. Under these conditions, the nitrile bonds in ABS are hydrolyzed to form a potassium– ABS salt complex that migrates to AP1. This AP1 is then neutralized with hydrochloric acid (HCl) to produce the denitrogenated solid product 2 (SP2). The nitrogen from ABS is easily removed as ammonia (NH3) by evaporation. SP1 and SP2 from stage 1 are then liquefied at the second hydrothermal step (375–425 °C, 250 bar) to produce low-nitrogen-containing oils with high heating values up to 41.6 MJ∙kg−1. The oils primarily consist of mono-, di-, and poly-aromatic compounds, with boiling ranges similar to those of kerosene and vacuum gas oil. The gases from the supercritical HTL contain C2–C5 hydrocarbons. The results indicate that the two-stage sequential HTL is successful in removing nitrogen from the ABS and producing nitrogen-free aromatics, with much greater efficiency than the single-stage supercritical HTL of ABS.

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Hydrothermal liquefaction / Chemical recycling / Acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene / Alkali catalysts / Aromatics

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Subramanian Harisankar, Juliano Souza dos Passos, Sofie Klara Gissel Skibsted, Esben Damgaard, Patrick Biller. Sequential Denitrogenation and Liquefaction of Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene via Two-Stage Hydrothermal Liquefaction Using Homogeneous Catalysts. Engineering, 2026, 58(3): 114-124 DOI:10.1016/j.eng.2025.12.037

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