Devolatilization of Polypropylene Particles in Fluidized Bed

Armando Vitale, Alessandro Antonio Papa (), Stefano Iannello, Erwin Ciro, Arda Hatunoglu, Valerio Corradetti, Nicola Rovelli, Pier Ugo Foscolo and Andrea Di Carlo
Additional contact information
Armando Vitale: Industrial Engineering Department, University of L’Aquila, Piazzale E. Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Alessandro Antonio Papa: Industrial Engineering Department, University of L’Aquila, Piazzale E. Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Stefano Iannello: Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, UK
Erwin Ciro: Department of Engineering Sciences, Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, 00193 Rome, Italy
Arda Hatunoglu: Department of Astronautics, Electrical and Energy Engineering, Sapienza Università di Roma, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Valerio Corradetti: ENERECO Spa, Via L. Einaudi, 84/88, 61032 Fano, Italy
Nicola Rovelli: ENERECO Spa, Via L. Einaudi, 84/88, 61032 Fano, Italy
Pier Ugo Foscolo: Industrial Engineering Department, University of L’Aquila, Piazzale E. Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Andrea Di Carlo: Industrial Engineering Department, University of L’Aquila, Piazzale E. Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: Gasification of plastic waste is an emerging technology of particular interest to the scientific world given the production of a hydrogen-rich gas from waste material. Devolatilization is a first step thermochemical decomposition process which is crucial in determining the quality of the gas in the whole gasification process. The devolatilization of polypropylene (a key compound of plastic waste) has been investigated experimentally in a bench-scale fluidized bed reactor. Experimental tests were carried out by varying two key parameters of the process—the size of the polypropylene spheres (8–12 mm) and temperature (650–850 °C). Temperature shows the highest influence on the process. Greater molecular cracking results were more pronounced at higher temperatures, increasing the production of light hydrocarbons along with the formation of solid carbon residue and tar. The overall syngas output reduced, while the H 2 content increased. Furthermore, a pseudo-first-order kinetic model was developed to describe the devolatilization process (E app = 11.8 kJ/mol, A 1 = 0.55 s −1 , ψ = 0.77).

Keywords: devolatilization; hydrogen; plastic waste; polypropylene; kinetic model; fluidized bed reactor (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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