Catalytic Air Gasification of Plastic Waste (Polypropylene) in a Fluidized Bed. Part II: Effects of Some Operating Variables on the Quality of the Raw Gas Produced Using Olivine as the In-Bed Material

Abstract

This work focuses on the gasification of 100 wt % plastic waste (polypropylene). Some operating variables that were studied included the amount of olivine in the gasifier bed, the equivalence ratio, and the freeboard temperature. In a first series of tests, the effect of the amount of olivine in the bed on the gas composition was studied. Using 100 wt % olivine in the gasifier bed provided good results regarding tar content, ∼2 g of tar/mN3; lower heating value (LHV), ∼6 MJ/mN3; and gas yield, ∼5.5 mN,dry basis3/kgdaf. In a second series of tests, the equivalence ratio and freeboard temperature were varied to obtain better results. The tar content in this second series of tests was about 2 g of tar/mN3, the LHV was about 9 MJ/mN3, and the gas yield was about 3.5 mN,dry basis3/kgdaf