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Reforming of Pyrolysed Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) over Mg-Alumina Catalysts: Gas and Liquid Products Analysis
Summary
Scientists found a way to break down plastic water bottles (PET plastic) using heat and special catalysts, turning this waste into gas and liquid chemicals that could potentially be reused as fuel or industrial materials. This matters because it offers a possible path to keep PET plastic out of landfills and oceans—reducing the plastic waste that eventually breaks down into microplastics, which have been found in human blood, organs, and food supplies. While this is a promising step toward recycling plastic more usefully, the process still needs more research before it could be used at a large scale.
Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a non-biodegradable plastic waste which constitutes environmental menace but can be converted to useful and value-added petrochemicals and fuels via pyrolysis technology. In this study, waste PET was pyrolyzed at 550 °C and reformed at 600 °C over 1 g of catalyst in a Fixed Bed Reactor. Alumina, 1 and 3 wt% MgO-Alumina catalysts were prepared and used for the reforming of the pyrolyzed waste PET; the catalysts were characterised using SEM-EDX, XRF and XRD. The gaseous product of the process was analysed using an online gas analyser while the liquid products were for separated by SARA and the saturates were analysed using GC-FID. SEM analysis of the catalysts showed the particle sizes ranging from 1.42 – 7.633, 3.31 – 11.261 and 6.039 –17.257 µm for alumina, 1 wt% MgO – Alumina and 3 wt% MgO – Alumina respectively. The EDX showed the presence of MgO doped on Alumina framework as 1.08 and 4.39 in weight concentrations. XRF analysis revealed 0.00 and 3.49% MgO in the 1 and 3 wt% MgO – Alumina respectively while XRD analysis of the catalysts showed the characteristic peaks of Alumina and magnesium oxide with undistorted crystallinity. Material balance of the process showed that the liquid, gas and char were 1.85%, 71.45 % and 26.7 % of the total amount of waste PET of 200 g that was fed into the pyrolyser. The gas analyser showed the presence of CO, CO 2 , CH 4 , O 2 and H 2 with the highest value of CO and CH 4 (14.56 and 14.4%) obtained when Alumina was used, CO 2 and H 2 highest values (32.66 and 3.07%) were obtained when 1% MgO-Alumina was used. The GC-FID result of the saturates obtained from the SARA of the liquid product revealed that the hydrocarbons obtained reduced from a range of C 5 – C 30 to C 12 to C 21 when reforming was done. These results showed that waste PET was pyrolyzed and reformed to constituents of useful petrochemicals with the aid of the Mg-Alumina catalysts.