Thermochemical and Economic Analysis for Energy Recovery by the Gasification of WEEE Plastic Waste from the Disassembly of Large-Scale Outdoor Obsolete Luminaires by LEDs in the Alto Alentejo Region (Portugal)

Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez,Roberta Mota-Panizio,Paulo Brito,Luis Carmo-Calado

doi:10.3390/app10134601

Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez, Roberta Mota-Panizio + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app10134601

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Abstract

The recovery of urban waste is a social demand and a measure of the energy-environmental sustainability of cities and regions. In particular, waste of electrical origin, waste of electrical and electronic materials (WEEE) can be recovered with great success. The plastic fraction of these wastes allows their gasification mixed with biomass, and the results allow for producing syngas with a higher energy potential. This work allows for obtaining energy from the recovery of obsolete materials through thermochemical conversion processes of the plastic waste from the disassembly of the luminaires by mixing the said plastic waste in different proportions with the biomass of crop residues (olive). The gasification tests of these mixtures were carried out in a downstream fixed-bed drown daft reactor, at temperatures of approximately 800 °C. The results demonstrate the applied technical and economic feasibility of the technology by thermal gasification, for the production of LHV (Low Heating Value) syngas with highest power energy (more than 5 MJ/m3) produced in mixtures of up to 20% of plastic waste. This study was complemented with the economic-financial analysis. This research can be used as a case study for the energy recovery through gasification processes of plastic waste from luminaires (WEEE), mixed with agricultural biomass that is planned to be carried out on a large scale in the Alentejo (Portugal), as a solution applied in circular economy strategies.

Highlights

Energy sustainability based on the use of clean and decarbonized energy sources has become a priority and strategic objective for countries around the world
The welfare state of the societies of the future that allow future sustainable economic and social development must be oriented towards preserving the environment and oriented towards sustainability in terms of energy and waste recovery, within the strategies promoted by the EU (European Union) towards circular economy environments [1]
Policies aimed at the recovery and reuse of agricultural, forestry, municipal or industrial waste is a priority framed in the strategies of sustainable recovery and the circular economy [2]

Summary

Introduction

Energy sustainability based on the use of clean and decarbonized energy sources has become a priority and strategic objective for countries around the world. Countries with environmental sensitivity are considering satisfying their current energy demand by applying environmental and energy integration strategies that allow the use of new sustainable energy models based on renewable. For the development of a country, high investments are required in relation to the generation of electrical energy. This can be achieved by being more environmentally friendly and seeking more efficient and sustainable forms of clean renewable energy. Agricultural and forest biomass is a very interesting energy resource due to its high content in (LHV) Low Heating Value and allows its energy conversion through thermochemical processes, such as gasification, with great success and with low environmental impact, contributing to the reduction of the serious problem of global warming [4]

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