Characterization of fuel oil from pyrolysis waste light density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP)

Abstract

Plastic is the biggest commonly used materials in daily life. The increased of use plastics in daily life like due to their light weight, good durability, corrosion resistance, and is quite economical. However, plastic is stable and difficult to degrade so it can cause pollution to soil and also water ecosystems. Plastic waste for many years has been one of the main causes of flooding in several cities in Indonesia. Pyrolysis is one of environmentally friendly technologies that can be a solution to the plastic waste problem. Pyrolysis can convert plastic waste into liquid fuel by thermal degradation. This research aims to synthesize liquid materials from LDPE and PP plastic waste using pyrolysis and study the effect of variations in plastic types. Pyrolysis temperature used is 325 °C in 4 hours. The fuels obtained were analysed in nature including density, viscosity, flash point. Fuel content was analysed using GC-MS devices. The result of research was highest viscosity (0.61 cSt) and density (820K kg m−3) found at 100% PP plastic waste pyrolisis. 100% LDPE composition produced liquid oil with the highest yield on a value of 26.23% and the highest gas yield obtained at 75% LDPE composition and 25% PP (64.44%). Pyrolysis of plastic LDPE and PP produced cyclohexanedione compounds (C9H14O2) with a fairly low percentage.