Abstract
The manufacturing of polystyrene around the globe has escalated in the past years due to its huge applications in various areas. The perpetual market needs of polystyrene led the polystyrene wastes accretion in the landfill causing environmental deterioration. The soaring need for polystyrene also led to the exhaustion of petroleum, a non-renewable energy source, as polystyrene is a petroleum-derived product. Researchers from around the world have discovered a few techniques to take care of the polystyrene scraps, namely recycling and energy recovery techniques. Nevertheless, there are demerits involved with recycling techniques, such as they call for huge labor expenses in the separation process and cause water pollution, thereby decreasing the process sustainability. Owing to these demerits, the researchers have focused their attention on the energy recovery technique. Since petroleum is the main ingredient of polystyrene synthesis, the restoration of liquid oil from polystyrene via the pyrolysis method is a promising technique as the recovered oil has greater calorific value as compared to commercially available fuel. The present paper surveys the pyrolysis technique for polystyrene and the important process parameters that control the end product, like oil, gas, and char. The chief process parameters that are discussed in this review paper include the type of reactors, temperature, residence time, pressure, catalyst types, type of fluidizing gases, and their flow rate. A more recent technique of utilizing a solvent to perform pyrolysis and the effect of various process conditions on the product yield have been discussed. Apart from this, various outlooks to optimize the liquid oil recovery from polystyrene are also reviewed.
Highlights
For the past fifty years, plastic has played a crucial role in upgrading the human society [1]
As far as Europe is concerned, around 25 million tonnes of plastic turned out as scrap in the year 2012; out of this waste plastic approximately 38% accreted in the landfill, 26% was recycled whilst 36% was recovered through energy recovery technique [4]
The recent developments in microwave technology have opened a new pathway for The recent developments in microwave technology have opened a new pathway for the recovery of polystyrene waste through the pyrolysis process
Summary
For the past fifty years, plastic has played a crucial role in upgrading the human society [1]. As far as Europe is concerned, around 25 million tonnes of plastic turned out as scrap in the year 2012; out of this waste plastic approximately 38% accreted in the landfill, 26% was recycled whilst 36% was recovered through energy recovery technique [4]. These data signify that the quantity of plastic scrap that has accumulated in the landfill is too large. Expanded and solid PS scraps have been recycled to extruded plastic lumber This extruded polystyrene (XPS) has been widely employed to construct windows systems, roof trusses and flooring of buildings and houses. The prime and fundamental purpose of presenting this review article is to provide researchers and readers with a legible and unambiguous synthesis of the best resources available in the literature pertinent to the pyrolysis of PS waste
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