Mass yields of products and composition of syngas from pyrolysis of Brazilian plastic solid wastes: Combustion simulation and burner design to minimize COx and CxHy emissions

Abstract

For the first time, the mass yields of products and the composition of synthesis gas (syngas) from pyrolysis of Brazilian plastic solid waste were evaluated for a reactor processing 20 g of plastic at 800 °C. Combustion of the syngas was simulated, evaluating the levels of COx and CxHy emissions, and a burner was designed to minimize emissions during combustion. The main findings highlighted the importance of performing thermogravimetric analyses of waste materials. Higher thermal degradation temperatures (530–900 °C) were obtained for all the plastics, compared to values reported in the literature (300–600 °C). Between 46.7 and 98.0 wt% of syngas was produced, with lower heating values ranging from 10390 to 45684 kJ kg−1, due to differences between the plastics in the fractions of inorganic and hydrocarbon gases produced. The maximum temperatures for syngas combustion, simulated using ANSYS software, were 2000 and 800 °C inside the burner and combustion chamber, respectively. In the burner, higher COx and CxHy levels were related to the syngas composition and incomplete chemical reactions in the flame zone. The CO and CxHy levels decreased towards the combustion chamber, where CO2 was less than 8 wt%, in compliance with the CONAMA 316/2002 regulation.