Abstract
The increasing global waste plastic pollution is urging people to take immediate actions on effective plastic recycling and processing. In this work, we report the results of processing reclaimed plastic wastes from unsanitary landfill site in Kuwait by using a bench scale continuous auger pyrolysis system. The plastic feedstock was characterised. After a simple thermal densification process, the material was fed to the pyrolysis system at 500 °C. The pyro-oil and wax products were collected and characterised. The process mass balance was developed on dry basis, and the yields of pyro-oil, light wax, heavy wax and gases were 5.5, 23.8, 69.4 and 1.3 wt%, respectively. The findings have indicated that the reclamation of plastic waste from landfill was feasible in terms of the product distribution and characteristics. Further liquid analysis confirmed that the liquid products contained fractions that are comparable to petrol and diesel fuels. The wax products are viable and have potential application as coating, covering and lubrication.
Highlights
Plastics have become an essential commodity in our daily lives and their increasing consumption has led to the globally recognised problem of plastic waste accumulation [1]
We report the results of treating reclaimed plastic waste from unsanitary landfill site in Kuwait using a continuous auger pyrolysis system
The collective tars fraction has totalled at almost 94 wt.% of the total mass balance indicating high conversion in the continuous pyrolysis reactor set-up. This indicates that it is possible to treat plastic waste originating from landfill mining operation in such a way to decrease the accumulation of the solid waste and reduce the environmental burdens associated with landfilling
Summary
Plastics have become an essential commodity in our daily lives and their increasing consumption has led to the globally recognised problem of plastic waste accumulation [1]. Zaini et al [10] showed that refuse derived fuel (RDF) obtained from excavated waste combined with fine particles and treated using pyrolysis, produced modest oil and gas yields of 9–36 wt.% and 15–26 wt.%, respectively This is in comparison to fresh waste samples which produces 53 and 24 wt.%, respectively, attributed to the high ash content of the landfill feedstock material. Historic landfill sites were targeted in their study, as well as future landfill site projects They conclude that a combination of energy production and land re-use was the best option to generate a high economical return coupled with environmental benefits. We report the results of treating reclaimed plastic waste from unsanitary landfill site in Kuwait using a continuous auger pyrolysis system. The work is part of continuous research efforts in this research area, and to the best of our knowledge, the results here report for the first time continuous slow pyrolysis of reclaimed plastics from Kuwait in an auger reactor
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