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Assessment of the Energy Potential of Plastics as a Component of ANFO-type Explosives
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This study assessed the feasibility of incorporating plastic waste as a fuel component in ANFO-type explosives, replacing conventional diesel fuel. Plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene showed comparable energy potential to fuel oil, suggesting detonation-based disposal as an unconventional method to eliminate plastic waste while recovering its energy content.
Many methods have been developed to reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste. New technologies have been developed to make high-temperature utilisation of these wastes possible. A promising method for the unconventional disposal of plastics by detonation was identified. The popular explosive ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil) is a component mixture of oxidiser (ammonium nitrate) and fuel (diesel fuel). The optimal composition is 94.5% oxidiser and 5.5% fuel – a guarantee of complete and total combustion. Plastics have a chemical composition and oxygen balance similar to fuel oil. It is possible to replace the fuel share in ANFO by adding plastics and using the energy they contain. The amount of energy that can be recovered is high for PE and PP (at the level of 0.6) and PS – 0.5. Using polymers as ANFO components is advantageous for economic reasons – plastic waste will be eliminated during blasting works.
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