The thermo‐degradative behaviour of non‐woven plastics was studied in order to analyze their thermal stability and subsequent recycling method. Non‐isothermal thermogravimetric experiments using wide range of heating rates of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80,100 °Cmin−1 have been performed from ambient to 900 °C in a thermo‐balance with the objective of determining the kinetic parameters. Four model free kinetic approaches such as Friedman method, Coats‐Redfern (modified) method, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) method and Kissinger method have been used to determine kinetic parameters for the two stage degradation of the non‐woven plastic sample including the thermal degradation of synthetic plastics in the first step followed by the subsequent degradation of inorganic fillers in the second step. The activation energy obtained for first stage degradation is found significantly lower (106‐112 kJ/mol) compared to the second stage degradation (191‐202 kJ/mol). This result would help design a process for the valorisation of synthetic polymer and segregation of the filler materials in the plastic sample to be reused further.

No abstract

No abstract

In this paper, the kinetic parameters of discarded computer keyboard plastic waste are estimated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) with four different non-isothermal kinetic models at a wide range of heating rates 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 60 and 100 °C/min. The gross calorific value of waste computer keyboard plastic is 38.96 MJ/Kg. FT-IR analysis confirms the presence of alcohol, phenol, ether, ester, carboxylic acid, aromatic, and alkene compounds in keyboard plastic waste. The average values of activation energy are calculated as 158.1668, 198.883, 193.612, and 197.765 kJmol−1 from Kissinger, Friedman, FWO, and Coats-Redfern methods, respectively. The kinetic data obtained in this work would be useful for accurate prediction of reaction behaviour and in the design of efficient commercial process for the conversion of such plastic wastes to energy.