Pyro-Oil and Wax Recovery from Reclaimed Plastic Waste in a Continuous Auger Pyrolysis Reactor

Sultan Majed Al-Salem, Yang Yang, Jiawei Wang and Gary Anthony Leeke
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Sultan Majed Al-Salem: Environment & Life Sciences Research Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Yang Yang: Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI), Aston University, Aston St., Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Jiawei Wang: Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI), Aston University, Aston St., Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Gary Anthony Leeke: School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: The increasing global waste plastic pollution is urging people to take immediate actions on effective plastic recycling and processing. In this work, we report the results of processing reclaimed plastic wastes from unsanitary landfill site in Kuwait by using a bench scale continuous auger pyrolysis system. The plastic feedstock was characterised. After a simple thermal densification process, the material was fed to the pyrolysis system at 500 °C. The pyro-oil and wax products were collected and characterised. The process mass balance was developed on dry basis, and the yields of pyro-oil, light wax, heavy wax and gases were 5.5, 23.8, 69.4 and 1.3 wt%, respectively. The findings have indicated that the reclamation of plastic waste from landfill was feasible in terms of the product distribution and characteristics. Further liquid analysis confirmed that the liquid products contained fractions that are comparable to petrol and diesel fuels. The wax products are viable and have potential application as coating, covering and lubrication.

Keywords: pyrolysis; plastic waste; landfilling; TGA; pyro-oil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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