Abstract
The effective disposal of plastic waste has been a key global research issue. In this regard, the pyrolysis of plastic wastes seems to be an effective technique as this process is capable of producing fuel-grade oils. In the present work, the thermal decomposition of polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and their mixture (PS/PE) was investigated with an aim to enhance yields of liquid fractions with fuel-grade quality. The effect of operating parameters on the end products was studied. The obtained maximum liquid yields for polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) samples were 96.3 wt.% at 380 °C and 88.1 wt.% at 415 °C, respectively. For the PS/PE (50/50%) sample, the maximum conversion was 93.2 wt.% at 420 °C. Char yield was observed negligible (1–3 wt.%) at low reaction temperatures (350–420 °C). PE samples showcased a sharp initial decrease from 1.8 wt.% at 350 °C to 0.7 wt.% at 415 °C. PS also presented a similar trend; whereas, PS/PE sample was observed with 3.1 wt.% char at 350 °C that decreased to 1.4 wt.% at 420 °C. PE oil samples showed the presence of 1-alkenes and n-alkanes compounds in abundance, with carbon numbers in the range of C7 to C28. PS oil fractions comprised of toluene, ethylbenzene, and styrene in higher proportions of around 42%. On the other hand, PS/PE oil fractions mostly constituted the aliphatic hydrocarbons embracing both alkanes and alkenes with carbon numbers C12 to C22. Comparative assessment reveals that for PE oil fractions from the autoclave reactor are 44.4% and 90.2% higher than the same with fluidized bed and microwave-assisted reactors, whereas for PS oil fractions the values were marginally higher.
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Abbreviations
- PE:
-
Low-density polyethylene
- PS:
-
Polystyrene
- TGA:
-
Thermogravimetric analysis
- GC–MS:
-
Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry
- FTIR:
-
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
- NMR:
-
Nuclear magnetic resonance
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Acknowledgements
The author is thankful to the Engine Research laboratory, National Institute of Technology Silchar for the use of the autoclave pyrolysis unit and the physical characterization facilities. The authors also thank SAIC Iasst Guwahati for providing the GCMS & TG facility, SAIC Tezpur University for FTIR and CHNO facility, and SAIF IIT Bombay for the NMR facility.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Amarendra Deka performed conceptualization, methodology, experimentation and writing of the manuscript. Rahul Dev Misra conceptualized, supervised, reviewed, edited and provided experimental facilities for the work.
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Deka, A., Misra, R.D. Enhancement of fuel-grade oil yields from thermal pyrolysis of polyethylene and polystyrene through reflux condenser assisted autoclave reactor. Clean Techn Environ Policy (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-024-02739-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-024-02739-9