A new perspective on polyethylene-promoted lignin pyrolysis with mass transfer and radical explanation

Co-pyrolysis of lignin and waste plastics,for example polyethylene(PE),has been studied,but related reports are basically on condition optimizations.This study revealed a new perspective on PE-promoted lignin pyrolysis to phenolic monomers with mass transfer and radical explanation.Lignin and PE were first pyrolyzed individually to identify pyrolysis characteristics,pyrolytic products,as well as the suitable copyrolysis temperature.Then,co-pyrolysis of blended lignin/PE with various ratios was investigated.Yields of lignin products reached the maximum under lignin/PE ratio of 1:1,but blended approach always inhibited the production of lignin phenols.This resulted from the poor mass transfer and interactions between lignin and PE,in which PE pyrolysates could easily escape from the particle gaps.While in layered approach,PE pyrolysates had to pass through the lignin layer which contributed to the good interactions with lignin pyrolysis intermediates,thus the yields of lignin-derived products were significantly improved.Interactions between lignin and PE(or their pyrolysates)were mainly radical quenching reactions,and X-ray photoelectron spectrum(XPS)and electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)of pyrolytic chars were conducted to verify these interactions controlled by mass transfer.The percentage of C]C(sp^(2))and concentration of organic stable radicals in layered lignin/PE char were both the lowest compared with those in blended lignin/PE and lignin char,indicating the stabilization of lignin-derived radicals by PE pyrolysates.Moreover,the spin concentration of radicals in the char from layered char/PE was lower than that in lignin char,which further affirmed the quenching of radicals by PE in the layered co-pyrolysis mode.

Improving hydrocarbons production via catalytic co-pyrolysis of torrefied-biomass with plastics and dual catalytic pyrolysis

To increase the low yield and selectivity of aromatic hydrocarbons during the biomass pyrolysis process,we torrefied the biomass and then co-pyrolyzing with plastics such as high-density polyethylene(HDPE),polystyrene(PS),ethylene-vinyl acetate(EVA)and polypropylene(PP)and also single and dual catalyst layouts were investigated by Py-GC/MS.The results showed that non-catalytic fast pyrolysis(CFP)of raw bagasse(RBG)generated no aromatics.After torrefaction non-CFP of torrefied bagasse(TBG)generated low aromatic yield.Indicating that torrefaction would enhance the proportion of aromatics during the pyrolysis process.The CFP of TBG_(200℃)and TBG_(240℃)over ZSM-5 produced the total aromatic yield of 1.96 and 1.88 times higher,respectively,compared to non-CFP of TBG.Furthermore,the addition of plastic could increase H/Ceff ratio of the mixture,consequently,increase the yield of aromatic compounds.Among the various torrefied-bagasse/plastic mixtures,the CFP of TBG/EVA(7:3 ratio)mixture generated the highest the total aromatic yield of 7.7 times more than the CFP of TBG alone.The dual catalyst layout could enhance the yield of aromatics hydrocarbons.The dual-catalytic co-pyrolysis of TBG_(200℃)/plastic(1:1)ratio over USY(ultra-stable Y zeolite)/ZSM-5,improved the total aromatics yield by 4.33 times more than the catalytic pyrolysis of TBG_(200℃)alone over ZSM-5 catalyst.The above results showed that the yield and selectivities of light aromatic hydrocarbons can be improved via catalytic co-pyrolysis and dual catalytic co-pyrolysis of torrefied-biomass with plastics.