Co-pyrolysis characteristic of sugarcane waste with polyethylene terephthalate: thermal decomposition, product distribution, synergistic effect, and kinetics analysis

Abstract

This work has focused on the co-pyrolysis of sugarcane waste (SW) with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to gain insight on its thermal decomposition, product distribution, kinetics, and synergistic effect. SW and PET were blended at different ratios (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, and 0:100), and the Coats-Redfern method was used to determine the kinetics parameters. To ascertain the synergistic effect between SW and PET, product yields and composition of chemicals were compared with the synergistic effect of the individual components of pyrolysis. The bio-oil yield was significant at 60% of PET, with a difference of 19.41 wt% compared to the theoretical value. The synergistic impact of SW:PET on ester formation and acid compound inhibition was the most dominant at the 60:40 ratio. The kinetics analysis revealed that the diffusion mechanism, power law, and order of reactions were the most probable reaction models that can explain the pyrolysis of SW, and PET, and their blends. The resultant co-pyrolysis oil contained slightly larger hydrogen and carbon contents with low oxygen, and sulphur, and nitrogen contents, which improved the quality of the bio-oil. The results of this work could be used as a guide in selecting proper reaction conditions with optimal synergy during the co-pyrolysis process.

Keywords: Kinetic; Polyethylene terephthalate; Product distribution; Sugarcane waste; Synergistic effect; Thermal decomposition.