0
Article Sign in to save

Municipal Plastic Waste Recycling through Pyrogasification

Environment and Security 2024 11 citations

AI summary Read the abstract

Pyrogasification system converting 1,000 kg/h mixed municipal plastic waste into liquid fuel and gas without external heating.

Conventional mechanical recycling technologies cannot recycle all types and amounts of generated plastic waste. Pyrolysis can convert these municipal mixed plastic streams into products with significant calorific value, which are likely to be used as energy sources. The present work describes a technology used to expand the portfolio of technical approaches to drive plastics circularity, i.e., thermochemical recycling. A base case scenario considered a capacity of 1.000 kg/h of municipal plastic waste, consisting of a mixture of polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE), and plastic associated with paper, which were converted into non-condensable gases, oil, and char through a pyrogasification system. Based on mass and energy balances and experimental data from the literature, a total of 199.4 kg (48 MJ/kg) of liquid fuel and 832.85 kg (16 MJ/kg) of gas could be obtained with no need for external heating sources. The thermal requirement for the pyrolysis of 1.000 kg of municipal plastic waste (1.316 MJ) was supplied by the gasification of a fraction of the produced pyrolysis oil and gases. This feasibility analysis confirmed the technical adequacy of the proposed technology, which that will be further complemented by a technoeconomic study of the proposed solution.

More Papers Like This

Article

Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste to Plastic Oil: A Future Source of Fuel

AI summary Read the abstract

Researchers reviewed pyrolysis as a method for converting mixed plastic waste into liquid fuel oil, finding that temperature, catalyst type, and plastic composition strongly influence oil yield and quality, and that pyrolysis-derived plastic oil shows potential as a diesel substitute for reducing both plastic pollution and fossil fuel dependence.

Review

A review on catalytic pyrolysis of municipal plastic waste

AI summary Read the abstract

This review describes catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste as a sustainable alternative to landfilling and incineration, detailing the steps required for an operational pyrolysis plant and reviewing recent advancements in catalyst selection. Products including fuels and chemical feedstocks can be recovered from non-recyclable plastic waste, supporting circular economy objectives.

Article

Pyrolysis of the Plastics: Catalysts, Product Applications, and Techno-economic Assessment

AI summary Read the abstract

This review examines pyrolysis as a method to convert common plastic waste (PET, PE, PVC, PP, PS) into fuels and chemicals, analyzing reaction mechanisms and catalysts including zeolites and clays. A techno-economic assessment outlines how catalytic pyrolysis, despite requiring post-processing, can integrate into a circular economy by producing valuable liquid hydrocarbons and energy-generating gases.

Article Tier 2

Techno-Economic Review of Pyrolysis and Gasification Plants for Thermochemical Recovery of Plastic Waste and Economic Viability Assessment of Small-Scale Implementation

AI summary Read the abstract

This review evaluates the technical and economic viability of pyrolysis and gasification for converting plastic waste into fuel, finding that small-scale implementation faces significant cost challenges. Converting plastic waste into fuel reduces the amount available to degrade into microplastics in the environment, but economic barriers limit widespread adoption.

Article Tier 2

Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of a real mixture of post-consumer plastic waste: An analysis of the gasoline-range product

AI summary Read the abstract

Researchers performed thermal and catalytic pyrolysis on real post-consumer plastic waste mixtures using various catalysts, finding that polymer type strongly influenced gas, liquid, and char yields, and that zeolite catalysts produced gasoline-range hydrocarbon liquids with commercially viable compositions from mixed plastic feedstocks.

Research digests by email

When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.

Email me about

Share this paper