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

The worldwide surge of plastic manufacture and consumption has increased waste multifold, leading to environmental contamination and severe health implications. Furthermore, the manufacture of plastic from petroleum products depletes nonrenewable fossil resources, contributing to a significant volume of plastic waste. There are several strategic methods for reprocessing or recycling plastic to convert plastic waste to fuel. However, many problems related to recycling methods for waste plastics, such as the labor cost of the separation process, also cause water pollution. Because of these problems, researchers are focusing their attention on the retrieval process to compensate for the energy demand. Plastic waste alteration to energy has been achieved after substantial study and technical progress. Through pyrolysis, plastic can be retrieved as waste plastic oil, which has enormous promise as fuel with high calorific value compared with commercial oil and petroleum. The pyrolysis of plastic has been examined and reported with the primary objective of obtaining oil char and other byproducts. This review paper examines, various reaction parameters, such as the temperature residence, pressure, duration, reactor type, fluidized gas type, flow rates, and catalysts, are examined and presented. Based on analysis of these factors, this review paper demonstrates the different aspects for improving plastic-to-liquid technology in the production of high-value liquid oil from many types of waste plastics. Additionally, it discusses the problems concerning recycling methods such as labor costs, water pollution, and others. It also bridges the gap between current inefficiencies related to recycling plastic waste and practical requirements in need of viable energy solutions.