Gaseous products from primary reactions of fast plastic pyrolysis

Abstract

This study aimed to establish primary reactions and identify gaseous products during fast pyrolysis of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). Fast pyrolysis was performed by using Py-GC/MS/FID at 574 ± 22 °C for 5 s. Gaseous fractions formed during pyrolysis of LDPE, PP and PS were 14 ± 1 wt%, 31 ± 3 wt% and 103 ± 12 wt%, respectively. The main gaseous compounds from LDPE were butane, 1-pentane and 1-hexene. PP pyrolysis gave propene, pentane and 2,4-dimethyl-1-heptene as the main gaseous compounds. Styrene monomer was the dominant gas from PS. The results showed that polyolefin (PP and PE) produced aliphatic hydrocarbons, while PS formed aromatic hydrocarbons. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism suggests that both inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen transfer occur during PP and PE pyrolysis. PS pyrolysis involves a C-C cleavage at the aliphatic side chain. This work is important to understand the mechanism of gas formation of primary reactions from pyrolysis of common plastics.