Production of bio-fuel from plastic waste

Abstract

The global plastic production increased over years due to the vast applications of plastics in commercial units. The continuous demand of plastics causes the plastic wastes accumulation in the landfill, which consumes a lot of space which contributes to the environmental problems. Since plastics were the petroleum-based material the rising in plastic demand led to depletion of petroleum as a part of non-renewable fossil fuel. Recycling and energy recovery method were some alternatives that have been developed to manage plastic waste. However, the recycling method required high labor cost for the separation process and caused water contamination that reduced the process sustainability. Due to these drawbacks, the researchers have diverted their attentions to the energy recovery method to compensate the high energy demand. The plastic waste conversion to energy was developed through extensive research and technology development. The recovery of plastic to liquid oil through pyrolysis process had a great potential since petroleum was the main source of plastic manufacturing. And also the oil produced had high calorific value compared to the commercial fuel. This paper reviewed the pyrolysis process for plastics and the main process parameters that influenced the final product such as oil, char and gas.