LAPSE:2023.6827
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.6827
Catalytic Upgrading of Plastic Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Pyrolysis Vapors over Si−Al Ash Pellets in a Two-Stage Reactor
February 24, 2023
Abstract
This study investigated thermal cracking and catalytic upgrading of waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) plastics on a semi-batch reactor coupled to a heated catalyst fixed bed (2-stage vapor cracking). The catalyst used is a Si−Al ash obtained from commercial activated carbon pellets treated with concentrated NaOH solution and calcination. The purpose of the study was to characterize the waste stream through its thermogravimetry analysis and pyrolysis products, study the effect of temperature (350−500 °C) and catalyst quantity (0.0−7.5 %.wt) on yields of reaction products, physical chemical properties, and chemical composition of bio-oil in order to understand and evaluate production of fuels and chemical feedstock by recycling of WEEE plastic through catalytic upgrading. Time-fractioned samples were taken in determined reaction times (15, 30, 45, and 60 min) to study the evolution of cracking reactions during experiment runs through changes to chemical composition (GC/MS). A comparison with other previous work is also presented to show similarities between different feedstocks using the same thermal unit. The results indicate composition of brominated acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) for the WEEE plastic. The temperature of 350 °C produced better results when considering acid value but presented lower bio-oil yields (38%) and high gas yields (42%). Catalytic upgrading experiments revealed the increased presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) with an increase in viscosity of bio-oil, increase in char yield (from 11% to 24%), and decrease in gas yields (15% to 5%). Chemical composition showed presence of aromatic hydrocarbons such as styrene, methyl-styrene, and diphenyl-propane and nitrogenated compounds such as benzene-butane-nitrile, phenolic compounds, PAHs, and brominated compounds. WEEE plastic pyrolysis is a challenging subject due to contaminant presence and varying composition, and chemical composition evaluation according to reaction time provides interesting insights into the evolution of semi-batch pyrolysis/catalytic upgrading experiments. Standardization and reproducibility of the tool should be conducted to continue the evaluation of pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of a wide range of feedstocks.
This study investigated thermal cracking and catalytic upgrading of waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) plastics on a semi-batch reactor coupled to a heated catalyst fixed bed (2-stage vapor cracking). The catalyst used is a Si−Al ash obtained from commercial activated carbon pellets treated with concentrated NaOH solution and calcination. The purpose of the study was to characterize the waste stream through its thermogravimetry analysis and pyrolysis products, study the effect of temperature (350−500 °C) and catalyst quantity (0.0−7.5 %.wt) on yields of reaction products, physical chemical properties, and chemical composition of bio-oil in order to understand and evaluate production of fuels and chemical feedstock by recycling of WEEE plastic through catalytic upgrading. Time-fractioned samples were taken in determined reaction times (15, 30, 45, and 60 min) to study the evolution of cracking reactions during experiment runs through changes to chemical composition (GC/MS). A comparison with other previous work is also presented to show similarities between different feedstocks using the same thermal unit. The results indicate composition of brominated acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) for the WEEE plastic. The temperature of 350 °C produced better results when considering acid value but presented lower bio-oil yields (38%) and high gas yields (42%). Catalytic upgrading experiments revealed the increased presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) with an increase in viscosity of bio-oil, increase in char yield (from 11% to 24%), and decrease in gas yields (15% to 5%). Chemical composition showed presence of aromatic hydrocarbons such as styrene, methyl-styrene, and diphenyl-propane and nitrogenated compounds such as benzene-butane-nitrile, phenolic compounds, PAHs, and brominated compounds. WEEE plastic pyrolysis is a challenging subject due to contaminant presence and varying composition, and chemical composition evaluation according to reaction time provides interesting insights into the evolution of semi-batch pyrolysis/catalytic upgrading experiments. Standardization and reproducibility of the tool should be conducted to continue the evaluation of pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of a wide range of feedstocks.
Record ID
Keywords
chemical composition, e-waste, flame retardant ABS pyrolysis, PAH, physical–chemical properties, reaction time, thermal cracking, thermogravimetry, WEEE
Subject
Suggested Citation
de Freitas Costa AF, Ferreira CC, da Paz SPA, Santos MC, Moreira LGS, Mendonça NM, da Costa Assunção FP, de Freitas ACGDA, Costa RMR, de Sousa Brandão IW, da Costa CEF, da Mota SAP, de Castro DAR, Duvoisin S Jr, Borges LEP, Machado NT, Bernar LP. Catalytic Upgrading of Plastic Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Pyrolysis Vapors over Si−Al Ash Pellets in a Two-Stage Reactor. (2023). LAPSE:2023.6827
Author Affiliations
de Freitas Costa AF: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Ferreira CC: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
da Paz SPA: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Santos MC: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil [ORCID]
Moreira LGS: Faculty of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Mendonça NM: Faculty of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
da Costa Assunção FP: Graduate Program of Civil Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
de Freitas ACGDA: Graduate Program of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Costa RMR: Graduate Program of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil [ORCID]
de Sousa Brandão IW: Graduate Program of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil [ORCID]
da Costa CEF: Graduate Program of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
da Mota SAP: Graduate Program of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará, Folha 31, Quadra 7, Lote Especial—Nova Marabá, Marabá 68507-590, Brazil
de Castro DAR: Centro Universitário Luterano de Manaus—CEULM/ULBRA, Avenida Carlos Drummond de Andrade N° 1460, Manaus 69077-730, Brazil [ORCID]
Duvoisin S Jr: Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas-UEA, Avenida Darcy Vargas N° 1200, Manaus 69050-020, Brazil
Borges LEP: Laboratory of Catalyst Preparation and Catalytic Cracking, Section of Chemical Engineering, Instituto Militar de Engenharia-IME, Praça General Tibúrcio N° 80, Rio de Janeiro 22290-270, Brazil
Machado NT: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil; Faculty of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Univers [ORCID]
Bernar LP: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Ferreira CC: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
da Paz SPA: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Santos MC: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil [ORCID]
Moreira LGS: Faculty of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Mendonça NM: Faculty of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
da Costa Assunção FP: Graduate Program of Civil Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
de Freitas ACGDA: Graduate Program of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Costa RMR: Graduate Program of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil [ORCID]
de Sousa Brandão IW: Graduate Program of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil [ORCID]
da Costa CEF: Graduate Program of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
da Mota SAP: Graduate Program of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará, Folha 31, Quadra 7, Lote Especial—Nova Marabá, Marabá 68507-590, Brazil
de Castro DAR: Centro Universitário Luterano de Manaus—CEULM/ULBRA, Avenida Carlos Drummond de Andrade N° 1460, Manaus 69077-730, Brazil [ORCID]
Duvoisin S Jr: Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas-UEA, Avenida Darcy Vargas N° 1200, Manaus 69050-020, Brazil
Borges LEP: Laboratory of Catalyst Preparation and Catalytic Cracking, Section of Chemical Engineering, Instituto Militar de Engenharia-IME, Praça General Tibúrcio N° 80, Rio de Janeiro 22290-270, Brazil
Machado NT: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil; Faculty of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Univers [ORCID]
Bernar LP: Graduate Program of Natural Resources Engineering of Amazon, Campus Profissional-UFPA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Rua Augusto Corrêa N° 1, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
16
Issue
1
First Page
541
Year
2023
Publication Date
2023-01-03
ISSN
1996-1073
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PII: en16010541, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.6827
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https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010541
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Feb 24, 2023
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