No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This study was carried out to examine the thermo-chemical decomposition of postconsumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in alkaline solution of butan-1-ol. The effect of various process parameters such as reactor temperature, time and sodium hydroxide concentration on the degree of PET degradation and products yield were studied and it was found that the decomposition of PET was essentially complete in an hour, with terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol being the main products. A kinetic study of the process showed that the alkaline solvolysis of PET is a second order reaction.

The combined mixture process variable approach for optimization and prediction of oil yield in co‐pyrolysis of polymeric wastes was investigated in this study using I‐optimal design. The components mixture investigated were low‐density polyethylene (LDPE), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), whereas the process variables were temperature and residence time. Thirty experimental runs were developed using the I‐optimality criterion to investigate the effect of interaction between the mixture and process parameters on oil recovery from co‐pyrolysis of the polymeric wastes. The data obtained were used to generate a model equation, and analysis of variance was used to estimate the significance of the model. The model was significant with a P value < 0.0001, the R2 value of 0.9980, adjusted R2 of 0.9949, and predicted R2 of 0.9201. Optimized oil yield showed close match between actual and predicted responses with a desirability factor of 0.999. The predicted mixture compositions and operating parameters for the optimum oil yield were 52.86% for LDPE, 47.15% for PS, and 0% for PET at 471.07°C and 115.25 minutes. The chemical compositions of the pyrolysis oil at the optimum conditions were hydrocarbons in the carbon range between C6 and C25, with physical properties comparable to conventional diesel.