Hydrothermal liquefaction of waste Al-PE-Pa laminated packaging: Effect of Ni:Ce in Ni₁₀Ce_x/Al₂O₃ catalyst

Abstract Hydrothermal liquefaction technology was applied for treating waste Al-PE-Pa laminated packaging for bio-oil production at 360 °C, 20 MPa and 30 min. Ni10Cex/Al2O3 catalyst was used to upgrade the quality of bio-oil. The effect of Ni:Ce on bio-oil yield, elements and compounds distributions were investigated. Results showed that the maximum bio-oil yield of 35.53 wt% was obtained with 5 wt% Ce loading. In addition, the O content decreased from 21 wt% without catalyst to 15% with Ni10Ce5/Al2O3 catalyst. The interactions between Ce and Ni facilitate the dispersion of the active metals and promoted the hydrodeoxidation reactions. The main content of the bio-oil produced with Ni10Ce5/Al2O3 catalyst was diesel oil, which mainly due to the accelerated degradation of the long chain C-C bond in paper fibre and PE. This study provided a new approach for waste Al-PE-Pa laminated packaging treatment.