Pyro-oil and wax recovery from reclaimed plastic waste in a continuous Auger pyrolysis reactor

Abstract

The increasing global waste plastic pollution is urging people to take immediate actions on effective plastic recycling and processing. In this work, we report the results of processing reclaimed plastic wastes from unsanitary landfill site in Kuwait by using a bench scale continuous auger pyrolysis system. The plastic feedstock was characterised. After a simple thermal densification process, the material was fed to the pyrolysis system at 500 ◦C. The pyro-oil and wax products were collected and characterised. The process mass balance was developed on dry basis, and the yields of pyro-oil, light wax, heavy wax and gases were 5.5, 23.8, 69.4 and 1.3 wt%, respectively. The findings have indicated that the reclamation of plastic waste from landfill was feasible in terms of the product distribution and characteristics. Further liquid analysis confirmed that the liquid products contained fractions that are comparable to petrol and diesel fuels. The wax products are viable and have potential application as coating, covering and lubrication.