An Alternative Method for Synthetic Polymers Waste Processing Using the Low Temperature Pyrolysis Process

Plastics, due to their numerous advantages, are becoming materials more and more widely used in all branches of industry. The number of products, packaging and waste made of synthetic polymers is constantly increasing, which results in a growing threat to the environment due to long time of decomposition of the manufactured products. The future development of plastic recycling methods appears to be a necessary and significant step in materials processing and environmental protection. During the last two decades, a large number of promising research results on the catalytic pyrolysis process of plastics have been reported. This paper presents an alternative method for synthetic polymers waste processing using the low temperature pyrolysis process. The aim of this method is to manage the waste efficiently, but also to reduce the demand for fossil fuels. Commercial fuels and mixtures of these fuels with the pyrolytic oil obtained in low-temperature pyrolytic process were used for the purpose of this study, The following parameters of the obtained fuel mixtures were tested: density, viscosity, flash point, water content, cetane number, cold filter blocking temperature, cloud pint and lubricity, using following equipment: oscillating densitometer, Stabinger viscometer, Pensky-Martens Closed cup tester, apparatus for coulometric determination of water content by Karl-Fischer method, calorimeter. All tests were carried out in accordance with European standards for crude oil and petroleum products. The obtained results are promising and by contribution of the pyrolytic oil additives it is possible to significantly reduce the share of petroleum products used in the fuels production process and contribute to the beneficial management of artificial waste.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023).