Vacuum Catalytic Pyrolysis System and Method for Converting Waste Polymers into Multi-Grade Transportation Fuels Using Nanocomposite Catalyst Cartridges and AI-Based Process Control

A multi-layer nanocomposite catalyst cartridge for use in a vacuum catalytic pyrolysis reactor operating at a sub-atmospheric absolute pressure of 15 to 120 Torr, comprising:

• a detachable enclosed perforated cage of high-temperature alloy configured for snap-fit engagement with an inner wall of the reactor and providing an interfacial thermal conductance of 500 to 2,000 W/m2−K with a cage-to-wall contact area of 60 to 85 percent;
• and a plurality of catalyst pellets housed within the cage, each pellet comprising at least the following functional layers:
• a first layer comprising a ceramic support material;
• a second layer comprising a zeolite-based material having engineered mesopores in the range of 2 to 50 nm and a mesopore volume of at least 0.10 cm3/g;
• a third layer comprising a far-infrared emissive metal oxide composition having an emissivity of at least 0.90 at wavelengths of 4 to 14 micrometers;
• a fourth layer comprising at least one catalytically active metal for hydrodesulfurization;
• and a fifth layer comprising an alkaline earth oxide or alkali metal oxide modifier;
• wherein the far-infrared emissive third layer is integrally formed as a functional layer of each pellet, providing both catalytic activity and radiative heat transfer contribution simultaneously during reactor operation.

A method of converting hydrocarbon-containing waste into multi-grade liquid fuel, the method comprising:

• step (a):
• selecting an operating pressure sub-range from among at least a first sub-range of 15 to 45 Torr, a second sub-range of 50 to 90 Torr, and a third sub-range of 91 to 120 Torr, based on a wax content and boiling range distribution of the waste feedstock as determined by thermogravimetric analysis;
• step (b):
• maintaining the selected sub-atmospheric absolute operating pressure across an entire series-connected process train comprising a feed and pretreatment zone, a liquid reaction zone, a purification and desulfurization zone, a condensation and vacuum zone, and an exhaust treatment zone, using a single vacuum pump as the sole mechanical driving force, without intermediate repressurization;
• step (c):
• pyrolyzing at least a portion of the waste feedstock in a reactor having a thermal management configuration selected from at least a multi-component configuration, a dual-mode configuration, and a triple-mode configuration;
• step (d):
• fractionating product vapor in a separation section operating in a mode selected from a pressure-gradient mode and a uniform-pressure mode;
• step (e):
• desulfurizing the fractionated product inline at the sub-atmospheric operating pressure by inducing capillary condensation within mesopores of a desulfurization catalyst having pore radii of 2 to 50 nanometers to achieve COS conversion of at least 99 percent and a total sulfur content in an outlet liquid product of 10 ppm or less at a temperature of 150 to 200 degrees C. while the process train maintains a macroscopic absolute pressure of 15 to 120 Torr;
• and step (f):
• controlling the process using a physics-based augmented physics-informed neural network having a non-trainable hard-constraint layer that structurally enforces at least the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and the Arrhenius equation as architectural constraints through at least one of:
• (i) an activation function domain restriction that prevents network outputs violating the thermodynamic equations;
• (ii) a projection operation subject to the thermodynamic constraints;
• or (iii) a masked output layer in which selected output connections are structurally fixed and non-trainable, the neural network generating control signals for at least an electric heater, a vacuum pump modulator, a pressure control valve, and a flow control valve with a total control cycle time from sensor input to actuator output of 500 milliseconds or less.