Disposal of bamboo-based plastic substitute waste: A case study on co-pyrolysis and co-combustion of bamboo and polylactic acid

Qi Gao, Liangmeng Ni, Shaowen Rong, Shushu Liu, Yanhang Zhong, Yuge He and Zhijia Liu

Energy, 2025, vol. 329, issue C

Abstract: This study comprehensively evaluated the pyrolytic behavior, combustion behavior, and char characteristics of bamboo and polylactic acid blends (BPs), and compared the combustion characteristics of the char with those of BPs. The pyrolysis of BPs primarily released compounds containing C=O bonds, oxygenated compounds, CO2, CO, alkyls, and H2O. A synergistic effect was observed when PLA was the dominant component in BPs, and the co-pyrolysis process contributed to an increase in the yield of char (BPC). Additionally, the yield, fixed carbon, ash, higher heating value (HHV), fuel ratio, and energy yield of BPCs decreased with increasing PLA content. The BPCs produced at 600 °C exhibited the highest HHV (32.5–33.7 MJ/kg) and energy density (1.71–1.74). Although the direct combustion of BPs showed synergistic effects, the release of large amounts of oxygenated compounds posed environmental challenges. In contrast, BPCs had better fuel characteristics and emitted only CO2 during combustion. This study confirmed the potential of BPs as a high-quality biofuel feedstock and provided a promising solution for the waste management of bamboo-based plastic substitute waste.

Keywords: Bamboo; Polylactic acid; Pyrolysis; Combustion; Biofuel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225024648
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:329:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225024648

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136822

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().