high-density polyethylene Archives - One Earth - One Ocean e. V.

Production, characterization and fuel properties of alternative diesel fuel from pyrolysis of waste plastic grocery bags

guenther — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:08:41 +0000

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

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Long-Term Sorption of Metals Is Similar among Plastic Types: Implications for Plastic Debris in Aquatic Environments.

guenther — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 21:59:30 +0000

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0085433

Rochman CM, Hentschel BT, Teh SJ (2014) Long-Term Sorption of Metals Is 
Similar among Plastic Types: Implications for Plastic Debris in Aquatic 
Environments. PLoS ONE 9(1): e85433. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085433

Abstract
Concerns regarding plastic debris and its ability to accumulate large 
concentrations of priority pollutants in the aquatic environment led us 
to quantify relationships between different types of mass-produced 
plastic and metals in seawater. At three locations in San Diego Bay, we 
measured the accumulation of nine targeted metals (aluminum, chromium, 
manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, zinc, cadmium and lead) sampling at 1, 
3, 6, 9 and 12 months, to five plastic types: polyethylene terephthalate 
(PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 
low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP). Accumulation 
patterns were not consistent over space and time, and in general all 
types of plastic tended to accumulate similar concentrations of metals. 
When we did observe significant differences among concentrations of 
metals at a single sampling period or location in San Diego Bay, we 
found that HDPE typically accumulated lesser concentrations of metals 
than the other four polymers. Furthermore, over the 12-month study 
period, concentrations of all metals increased over time, and chromium, 
manganese, cobalt, nickel, zinc and lead did not reach saturation on at 
least one plastic type during the entire 12-month exposure. This 
suggests that plastic debris may accumulate greater concentrations of 
metals the longer it remains at sea. Overall, our work shows that a 
complex mixture of metals, including those listed as priority pollutants 
by the US EPA (Cd, Ni, Zn and Pb), can be found on plastic debris 
composed of various plastic types.

http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0085433&representation=PDF

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