Techno-economic and environmental analysis of pyrolysis process simulation for plastic (PET) waste

Muhammad Shahbaz, Ahmed AlNouss, Gordon Mckay, Hamish Mackey, Tareq Al Ansari

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The intensive use of plastic in modern society has accumulated a significant and damaging quantity of plastic waste. The management of plastic waste is challenging due to its un-degradable nature and increasing polluting impact on land, water, and air systems. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most important plastic types used and constitutes a large fraction of plastic waste. The pyrolysis thermochemical conversion process is an important technique used to convert the PET into value-added products such as char, oil and gas. This study develops a process simulation model for the pyrolysis of PET plastic to convert into char, bio-oil and gas. The process flow sheet model is developed using the Aspen Plus V11® and the impact of pyrolysis temperature and pressure on the production of char, pyrolysis oil and gas are investigated, where a techno-economic-environmental feasibility is also conducted using Aspen Plus built-in features. Furthermore, an optimisation is applied, where three sets of optimum operating parameters other than base case are generated through maximising the generation of each pyrolysis product. The base case demonstrates pyrolysis gas, char and oil production approximately at 330 kg/h, 490 kg/hr and 180 kg/hr, respectively at a temperature of 450 °C and 1 bar. The gas production is favourable at a high temperature of more than 450 °C, in contrast to oil and char. The techno-economic evaluation demonstrates the optimised capital and operating costs are obtained at a lower temperature with maximum yields of char and oil at 53% and 28%, respectively. Moreover, the increase in temperature to optimise gas production demonstrates enhancement in the gas quality and reduction in capital cost compared to the base case in addition to a reduction in environmental emissions (86 kg/h CO2 emissions). In conclusion, this study provides a baseline for the utilisation of the pyrolysis process to convert PET into value-added products.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationComputer Aided Chemical Engineering
PublisherElsevier B.V.
Pages115-120
Number of pages6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2022

Publication series

NameComputer Aided Chemical Engineering
Volume51
ISSN (Print)1570-7946

Keywords

  • Aspen Plus
  • Char
  • PET
  • Pyrolysis
  • Techno-economic-environmental analysis

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