A mathematical model of waste tyre pyrolysis process is developed in this work. Tyre material decomposition based on a simplified reaction mechanism leads to main product lumps: noncondensable (gas), condensable (pyrolytic oil) and solid (char). The model takes into account kinetics of heat and mass transfer in the grain of the shredded rubber material as well as surrounding gas phase. The main reaction routes were modelled as the pseudo-first order reactions with a rate constant calculated from the Arrhenius type equation using literature values of activation energy determined for main tyre constituents based on TG/DTG measurements and tuned pre-exponential parameter values obtained by fitting theoretical predictions to the experimental results obtained in our laboratory reactor. The model was implemented within the CFD software (ANSYS Fluent). The results of numerical simulation of the pyrolysis process revealed non-uniformity of sample’s porosity and temperature. The simulation predictions were in satisfactory agreement with the experimentally measured mass loss of the tyre sample during pyrolysis process investigated in a laboratory reactor.

Electroflotation is used in the water treatment industry for the recovery of suspended particles. In this study the bubble formation and release of hydrogen bubbles generated electrolytically from a platinum cathode was investigated. Previously, it was found that both the growth rate and detachment diameter increased with increasing wire diameter. Conversely, current density had little effect on the released bubble size. It was also found that the detached bubbles rapidly increased in volume as they rose through the liquid as a result of decreasing hydrostatic pressure and high levels of dissolved hydrogen gas in the surrounding liquid. The experimental system was computationally modelled using a Lagrangian-Eulerian Discrete Particle approach. It was revealed that desorption of gaseous solutes from the electrolyte solution, other than hydrogen, may have a significant impact on the diameter variation of the formed bubbles. The simulation confirmed that liquid circulation, either forced or induced by the rising bubble plume, influences both the hydrogen supersaturation (concentration) in the neighbourhood of the electrode and the size of the resulting bubbles.