Brajendra K. Sharma, Bryan R. Moser, Karl E. Vermillion, Kenneth M.
Doll, Nandakishore Rajagopalan, Production, characterization and fuel
properties of alternative diesel fuel from pyrolysis of waste plastic
grocery bags, Fuel Processing Technology, Volume 122, June 2014, Pages
79-90, ISSN 0378-3820, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.01.019.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382014000290)
Abstract: Pyrolysis of HDPE waste grocery bags followed by distillation
resulted in a liquid hydrocarbon mixture with average structure
consisting of saturated aliphatic paraffinic hydrogens (96.8%),
aliphatic olefinic hydrogens (2.6%) and aromatic hydrogens (0.6%) that
corresponded to the boiling range of conventional petroleum diesel fuel
(#1 diesel 190–290 °C and #2 diesel 290–340 °C).
Characterization of the
liquid hydrocarbon mixture was accomplished with gas chromatography–mass
spectroscopy, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies,
size exclusion chromatography, and simulated distillation. No oxygenated
species such as carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ethers, ketones, or
alcohols were detected. Comparison of the fuel properties to the
petrodiesel fuel standards ASTM D975 and EN 590 revealed that the
synthetic product was within all specifications after addition of
antioxidants with the exception of density (802 kg/m3). Notably, the
derived cetane number (73.4) and lubricity (198 μm, 60 °C, ASTM D6890)
represented significant enhancements over those of conventional
petroleum diesel fuel. Other fuel properties included a kinematic
viscosity (40 °C) of 2.96 mm2/s, cloud point of 4.7 °C, flash point of
81.5 °C, and energy content of 46.16 MJ/kg. In summary, liquid
hydrocarbons with appropriate boiling range produced from pyrolysis of
waste plastic appear suitable as blend components for conventional
petroleum diesel fuel.
Keywords: Plastic; Pyrolysis; High-density polyethylene; Fuel; Diesel;
Biodiesel