Natural zeolite study as a catalyst: A case study of pyrolysis of polyethene terephthalate (PET) waste into liquid fuel

Abstract

Plastic waste is still one of the biggest problems of environmental pollution because it is nonbiodegradable. One effort to utilize plastic waste is the process of pyrolysis of plastic waste into alternative fuels. This study aims to optimize the pyrolysis process by using local natural zeolites. Local natural zeolite is mashed with a size of 250 mesh and mixed into PET as a catalyst for the pyrolysis process. The plastic material used in this study is Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) which was cut to 11 cm2 in size. The zeolite ratio used is 10% mass basis. The heating variation was set at temperatures of 250, 300 and 350 C with a heating time of 60 minutes. The results showed that the use of local natural zeolites for PET pyrolysis produced more fuel liquids, but some important physical properties related to the fuel for SI engines decreased.