Production of Hydrocarbon Liquid Fuels from waste Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) through Pyrolysis

Abstract

AbstractA novel coronavirus disease (Covid‐19) epidemic identified in a capital of Hubei territory of China in the month of December 2019. Covid‐19 was caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐COV‐2) and WHO announced it as pandemic. Health professionals were found at more risk due to frontline patronage during the pandemic. The only way to protect the health of frontliners is to appropriate utilization of PPEs. In this situation, there is always a concern about the shortage of PPEs; on the other hand, environmental consequence is the major issue because of its disposal. Plastic waste pyrolysis may play a major role to modify this waste. Pyrolysis is known as a tertiary recovery process which gives three recyclable end products: an oil, gas, and char. Generally, PPE waste has predominant hydrocarbon polymers which can be utilized as a fuel or feedstock by the synthetic enterprises. In this study, we have used pyrolysis method to transform 50gm PPE waste into hydrocarbons, which can be utilized either as powers or as feedstock in the petrochemical business. The maximum yield of fluid (35 %) was acquired at the reaction performed at 100 °C along with the cooling water at 17.59 °C. Maximum wax (11.02 %) was produced at <500 °C while gas was formed at >500 °C. The findings of this study indicate that non‐biodegradable plastic waste may be transformed into useful products which may further be utilized in demanding segments. We have also tried to explore various potential applications of another product of this study i. e., oil.