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Valorization of Cellulosic and SAP Based Baby Diaper Waste into Functional Products: Analyses and Bioenergy Potential

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Bioenergy Research: Commercial Opportunities & Challenges

Part of the book series: Clean Energy Production Technologies ((CEPT))

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Abstract

Functional products like fuels, chemical additives and adsorbent material, derived from disposable baby diapers, is accounted here presenting prospective waste valorization. Baby diapers after use are dumped in landfills and hence cause enormous waste management issues. Disposed baby diapers, consists crystals of synthetic super absorbent polymer (SAP), sodium polyacrylate, along with a combination of chiefly cellulosic (biopolymer) and other synthetic polymeric material like polyolefins, in the ubiety of biological excrements. Efficient conversion, of this waste material to value-added chemicals, has been investigated primarily through pyrolysis technique, in order to speculate several adaptable technologies. Disposable baby diapers were pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed batch reactor system in oxygen starved atmosphere. Pyrolysis experiment was carried out at optimal conditions to determine the feasibility and outcome, as well as compare yields of non-condensable gaseous products, liquid tar and solid residue char. Various characterizations have been performed to explore the achieved products, such as GC-TCD, GC-MS, FTIR, SEM, EDAX, XRD and BET methods. Gaseous yield was 52.5%, with significant presence of hydrogen and methane as fuels, whereas liquid tar yield comprising diesel range hydrocarbons was 18.3% and residual char obtained as adsorbent material was 29.3%, from baby diaper feedstock. Bioenergy potential assessment, from such disposable baby diaper polymeric waste, is possible from the analyses.

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Acknowledgements

The first author PD is grateful to the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (GI), for granting financial assistance through the Project File No.: PDF/2017/002264 under the National Post Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) Scheme. PD sincerely acknowledges Prof. P. K. Mishra and Prof. R. S. Singh, of the Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, India, for kind support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Belda College (Vidyasagar University), Belda, West Bengal, India

    Poushpi Dwivedi

  2. Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Dhanesh Tiwary

  3. Chemistry Department, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Shahid S. Narvi

  4. Applied Mechanics Department, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ravi P. Tewari

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  1. Poushpi Dwivedi
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  2. Dhanesh Tiwary
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  3. Shahid S. Narvi
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  4. Ravi P. Tewari
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Manish Srivastava

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Neha Srivastava

  3. Department of Environment Studies, Satyawati College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Rajeev Singh

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Dwivedi, P., Tiwary, D., Narvi, S.S., Tewari, R.P. (2021). Valorization of Cellulosic and SAP Based Baby Diaper Waste into Functional Products: Analyses and Bioenergy Potential. In: Srivastava, M., Srivastava, N., Singh, R. (eds) Bioenergy Research: Commercial Opportunities & Challenges . Clean Energy Production Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1190-2_5

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