Conversion of Hand Phone Case Waste into Liquid Fuels in a Microwave Reactor

Abstract

Hand phone case waste as one of the highest e-waste contributors can cause severe problems to human and environment. It should be processed or converted to obtain more useful products. The purpose of this study is to investigate liquid fuels production from hand phone case waste through pyrolysis and distillation processes under microwave irradiation. In each experiment, about 150 g of hand phone case with a size of 1-2 cm2 were pyrolyzed at 450°C for 1.5 hours. In order to improve pyrolysis process, the sample was mixed with carbon materials as absorber at a weight ratio of 2:1. The produced liquid fuel was then distilled to obtain gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fractions. The result showed that the average yield of liquid fuel from pyrolysis of hand phone case waste was 57 % by mass. After liquid fuel distillation process, the average yields of each fuels fraction were 21.2 vol.% gasoline, 25.2 vol.% kerosene, 26.1 vol.% diesel, and 27.5 vol.% heavy fuel and residue.