Simulation of the Pyrolysis Process: from Plastic Waste to Environmental Friendly Fuel

Abstract

How to deal with plastic waste is an important question, as it may affect both the climate and environment. A method that may be beneficial to dispose some kinds of plastic waste that cannot be material-recycled is thermochemical conversion and, more specifically, pyrolysis. To be able to optimize such a process models are important. This paper describes the results of a study where the main aim was to identify and compare existing published models identifying the important variables regarding the pyrolysis of Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP), published in open literature, and to compare these methods with experimental data. Several models were found, of which three were chosen for implementation and further evaluation. Two of the methods propose the use of lumped kinetic models to predict the product-composition as a function of time and temperature, while the third method uses also the particle size of the polymer as an input-variable. Comparison with analytical data shows that the models performs well when the assumptions and implications behind them are taken into account.

Simulation of the Pyrolysis Process: from Plastic Waste to Environmental Friendly Fuel