Determination of Fuel Properties of Char Obtained during the Pyrolysis of Waste Pharmaceutical Blisters

Krzysztof Pikoń, Waldemar Ścierski, Katarzyna Klejnowska, Łukasz Myćka, Anna Janoszka and Aleksander Sinek
Additional contact information
Krzysztof Pikoń: Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Waldemar Ścierski: Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Katarzyna Klejnowska: Łukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Łukasz Myćka: Łukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Anna Janoszka: Łukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Aleksander Sinek: Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Thermal Technology, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: The research presented in this manuscript is focused on the pyrolysis of waste pharmaceutical blisters, which are a large and neglected group of waste, that could be possibly recovered. The studies were focused on the analysis of the chemical composition, as well as fuel properties of the char generated during the process and its possible applications. The process temperatures (400, 425, and 450 °C) were determined based on the thermogravimetric study that was performed prior to the pyrolysis tests. The selected materials included the pre- and post-consumer waste pharmaceutical blisters in order to determine the possible influence of impurities on the final products. The tests were performed on a laboratory scale fixed bed reactor. The obtained solid fractions (metal and char) were separated. Char was subjected to elemental analysis (C, H, N, Cl, S), as well as the heat of combustion and fuel-related properties (content of flammable, non-flammable, and volatile components) were determined. The results were used to compare the properties of char to the properties of active carbon. The market potential was analyzed.

Keywords: pyrolysis; circular economy; alternative fuels; WBPs (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/6/1782/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/6/1782/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:6:p:1782-:d:522824

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().