Production of liquid fuel from co-pyrolysis of polythene waste and rice straw

Abstract

Co-pyrolysis technology gain much popularity in recent years compared to other thermochemical conversion techniques due to its environmental and socio-economic advantages. The present study focuses on the liquid fuel production through co-pyrolysis of polythene waste and rice straw in varying composition and characterization of the liquid products. The laboratory scale co-pyrolysis experiments have been carried out in a fixed bed LPG heating reactor under temperature between 4000-500 0C to obtain maximum liquid yield. The feed sizes were 20mm × 20mm for polythene and 15mm × 5mm for rice straw and they were mixed in different proportions. The liquid and char products were collected separately while the gas was flared into atmosphere. The maximum liquid yield was 61 wt. % for mixture ratio 1:1 at a temperature of 430 0C while the minimum liquid yield was 40 wt. % for mixture ratio 1:4 at a temperature of 500 0C. On the other hand, about 80 wt. % and 35 wt.% liquid were produced for individual feed of polythene and rice straw, respectively. It has also observed that the liquid yield decreases with increasing amount of rice straw in the mixture. The liquid products possess favorable fuel properties: density, viscosity, pour point, flash point and calorific value to be used as alternative fuel.