Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and

Environmental Effects

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/ueso20

Plastic waste conversion to fuel: a review on

pyrolysis process and influence of operating
parameters

Krishna Murthy, Rahul J Shetty & Kumar Shiva

To cite this article: Krishna Murthy, Rahul J Shetty & Kumar Shiva (2023) Plastic waste
conversion to fuel: a review on pyrolysis process and influence of operating parameters,
Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 45:4, 11904-11924,
DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2020.1818892

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ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
2023, VOL. 45, NO. 4, 11904–11924
https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2020.1818892

Plastic waste conversion to fuel: a review on pyrolysis process and

influence of operating parameters
Krishna Murthy, Rahul J Shetty, and Kumar Shiva
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of
Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

As the conventional fuels, like petrol, diesel, natural gas, etc., are being Received 8 June 2020
depleted at a faster rate, it is necessary to find alternative sources of fuels. Revised 23 August 2020
Renewable energy sources can be considered for the purpose of alternative Accepted 30 August 2020
sources, but the overall efficiency is very low since the extraction of energy is KEYWORDS
costly and difficult. In the recent years, more attention has been focused to Pyrolysis process; biomass
produce energy from the wastes. Waste plastic pyrolysis is the latest technol­ fuel; catalysts; plastic
ogy, which serves as the alternative source for producing energy. In this recycling; plastic derived oils;
paper, in depth study has been carried out on various parameters influencing reaction time
the pyrolysis process and analysis of the liquid oil obtained from the process.
Influence of operating temperature, reaction time, addition of biomass, and
catalysts on the yield of the fuel has been extensively reviewed and dis­
cussed. Most of the plastics produces oil having reasonable calorific values as
compared with the conventional fuels. Mixing of biomass materials like
paper, woods, etc. have shown higher yield with higher calorific values.
Potential scope for further investigation has been highlighted. It is concluded
that pyrolysis is one of the novel energy conversion technology which helps
in the development of sustainable energy as well as providing solution for
the disposal of used waste plastics.

Introduction
India is one of the developing countries in the world with large population. In phase with the development
in the country, the standard of living of people is changing. Per capita energy consumption is increasing
which in turn increases the demand for energy in every sector. However on the other hand, the major
energy supplying sources like fossil fuels are getting depleted fast and their price is always increasing. The
use of conventional fuel causes some environmental problems like air pollution and global warming. The
different governmental and nongovernmental bodies are encouraging to take necessary steps to reduce the
energy consumption and to adopt energy efficient devices to tackle the energy-related problems.
Researchers are continuously trying to improve the performance of energy conversion devices as well as
searching for the replacement of these conventional fuels with renewable fuels.
With the increasing standards of living, the use of plastic has been increased substantially in each
and every sphere of our life especially in the developing country like India. It is a well-known fact that
plastics are light in weight, low cost, highly efficient, good durability, faster production rate, and
flexibility because of which plastic has gained so much of popularity. Every product coming out from
an industry uses plastic for packing. Frequently used plastics can be categorized into six different types
of plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl
chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS). Among
the total plastic consumed, only around 9% of the plastics are reused and rest of the plastics are

CONTACT Kumar Shiva shiva.kumar@manipal.edu Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Manipal
Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104
© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 11905

disposed to garbage and 12% are incinerated (Geyer, Jambeck, and Law 2017; Parker 2018; Whitcomb
2020). Recent survey says that India is producing 24,940 tonnes of waste plastic every day (Press Trust
of India 2019). This poses a big problem for waste plastic disposal.
The general practice in India for waste plastic management is, a particular area identified and the
wastes are dumped there. This poses a threat to the human, animal life and also to the environment
(Wong et al. 2015; Raja and Murali 2011). It’s a well-known fact that plastic takes 400–500 years to
decompose (Parker 2018; The Lifecycle of Plastics 2020). Thus, the plastics disposed in the waste
disposal sites will remain there for longer time and may cause soil erosion in and around the area.
Also, many times, animals consume these plastics thinking it as food and die, as plastics doesn’t digest.
There is another way of plastic management, where the plastics are recycled but it has its own
disadvantages (Biddinika et al. 2017; Faussone 2017; Fivga and Dimitriou 2018). Not all the plastics
can be recycled. Sorting and cleaning of waste plastics is necessary, which increases the cost of recycled
plastics. Also due to repeated heating, the favorable properties of plastics are reduced. So only waste
plastic can be managed is by converting the plastic into a usable product.
Pyrolysis process has turned out to be one of the best methods for the plastic waste conversion, as
the end product obtained can be directly be used to produce energy, as well as, the conversion does not
produce any toxic pollutants (Mokhtar, Omar, and Idris 2012; Kim et al. 2010). Pyrolysis is a process
of heating the plastic in the absence of oxygen. As there is no oxygen, plastic doesn’t get oxidized,
instead degradation takes place. The system consists of reactors, condensers and collecting tanks.
Volatile vapors are produced in reactors at high temperatures, which are then condensed to liquid in
heat exchangers and collected in collecting tanks. Gases like nitrogen or hydrogen are used to
transport the volatile fumes produced in reactor to condenser. Several applications on the usefulness
of waste plastic oil have been tried by different researchers over the years. Bukkarapu et al.(Bukkarapu
et al. 2018) used waste plastic oil to run the diesel engine. Ayodele et al.(Ayodele et al. 2020) estimated
the electricity generation potential by using biodiesel derived from waste plastics in Nigeria. In this
context, various researches have been carried out worldwide in order to enhance the end products of
plastic pyrolysis process.
Improving the product quality and quantity has always been the main target of most of the
researchers (Uzoejinwa et al. 2020). The quality product will give the advantage of using the pyrolysis
oil directly in existing engines without any modifications, and product quantity implies more yield per
unit mass of waste plastic feed. In order to achieve these two goals, research has been carried out by
considering different parameters in the plastic pyrolysis process.
The important parameters influencing the yield from pyrolysis are: type of the plastic considered,
operating temperature, operating time, type of the catalyst added, and addition of other materials to
improve decomposition. Since the plastics available from recycling sources are of different types, the
pyrolysis product from each type of the plastic depends on the temperature maintained during
pyrolysis and the time consumed for decomposition to yield the liquid and gaseous fuel. The oil
yield rate can also be enhanced by the addition of various types of catalysts. Action of the catalyst again
depends on the all the factors mentioned above. Hence in order to extract optimum percentage of
liquid oil, appropriate catalyst along with the operating parameters to be maintained at their optimum
values. Addition of some chemicals also enhance the decomposition rate. Researchers are always
interested in improving the amount of liquid fuel that can be extracted from the waste plastics as it is
going to save the energy and serve as a sustainable source. From the literature it is observed that study
of the different parameters influencing the yield for various types of plastics is limited. This study is
very important as proper selection of parameters with their optimum values chosen will maximize the
yield with better quality. Hence an attempt has been made to review the influence of several operating
parameters on the conversion of various types of waste plastics into liquid fuel using pyrolysis process
has been undertaken. The effect of significant parameters such as operating temperature, reaction
time, catalysts, and influence of biomass based binders on the pyrolysis process have been compre­
hensively discussed to maximize the yield and future research directions have been deliberated which
is the novelty of the present work.
11906 K. MURTHY ET AL.

Operating parameters
Operating temperature
Temperature is one of the important factors in pyrolysis process. The yield of pyrolysis mainly depends
on the temperature maintained during the process. It is the temperature where thermal degradation
takes place and the long chain polymers are broken into smaller chains. The temperature of different
plastics ranges from 300 to 500°C. Miandad et al. (Miandad et al. 2016) investigated temperature and
reaction time at which the liquid yield was more for the plastic pyrolysis. The plastic tested was
Polystyrene (PS). They used a laboratory semi-batch reactor with PID (proportional integral derivative)
controller in order to control the temperature of the reactor. Tests were conducted at different
temperatures (400°C, 450°C, and 500°C) to analyze the effect of temperature on the liquid oil yield
and its quality. It was found that at 450°C, maximum liquid yield was obtained. Ahmad et al.(Ahmad
et al. 2015) used pyrolysis process for polypropylene and HDPE individually at different temperatures
ranging from 250°C to 400°C. For PP, it was observed that when temperature was raised from 250°C to
300°C, the total yield increased from 86.32% to 98.66% with 69.82% liquid product and on further
increase, there was no increase in the yield. For HDPE, maximum yield was observed at 350°C.
The thermal degradation temperature will not be same for mixture of plastics and for their mixture
with biomass material. Das et al. (Das and Tiwari 2018) mixed LDPE, HDPE, and PP and carried
pyrolysis process, and concluded that the maximum yield was obtained at 400°C. When mixture of
plastics are pyrolyzed, thermal degradation of these plastics takes place at different temperatures. In
order to depolymerize into monomers and oligomers, and then they repolymerize into aromatic
compounds, the pyrolysis temperature range varied from the individual plastics. This may be due to
the different polymer chain length of different plastics. R Miandad et al. (Miandad et al. 2017) also
conducted pyrolysis process of mixture of plastics (PS, PP, PE, and PET) and optimum temperature
observed was around 450°C. Ates et al. (Miskolczi and Ateş 2016) used mixture of PE and PP in the
pyrolysis process maintained a temperature of 500°C. When plastics were mixed with biomass
materials, the optimum thermal degradation temperature changed. Pradhan et al. (Dewangan,
Pradhan, and Singh 2016) mixed LDPE with sugarcane bagasse and maximum yield was obtained at
500°C with 1:1 ratio. These biomass materials usually contain more oxygen compounds, thus when
pyrolyzed with plastic, results in oxygenated compounds in the product, like carbon monoxide as well
as hydrogen gas, resulting in the low calorific value pyrolysis oil due to the presence of oxygenated
compounds and low hydrocarbon contents. However, these biomass materials helps in the cracking
process of polymer material into useful lower molecular weight compounds. Chunmei et al. (Chunmei
et al. 2014) used lignite (brown coal) as the biomass material and mixed with PE and PP plastic in the
pyrolysis process. The maximum temperature of the reactor was about 600°C, as the activation energy
of the lignite is in the range of 530–600°C. From the literature review it is clear that plastic operating
temperature or pyrolysis temperature is one of the major factors influencing the yield. Table 1
summarizes the various types plastics used, pyrolysis temperature and percentage of liquid and
gaseous yield obtained.

Table 1. Details of the influence of operating Temperature on the pyrolysis process of plastics.
Yield
Material Operating temperature Liquid Gas Char/Residue
PS 450 80.8 13.1 6.1
HDPE 400 81.5 17.8 0.7
LDPE 400 81.4 16.6 2
PP 375 82 17.3 0.7
PS+PP 450 50 39.8 10.2
PS+PP+PE 450 38 40.6 21.4
PE+PP 500 34.2 8.1 57.7
LDPE + Sugarcane bagasse 500 52.75 12 35.25
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 11907

Further it is under stood that the yield rate varies for different types of the plastics and also can be
enhanced by the addition of some additives such as brown coal, bagasse, etc. Thus it is clear that there
lies great opportunity for further study on the influence of different additives on the yield and
subsequently necessity of optimizing the operating temperature of the pyrolysis process.

Reaction time
It is basically a temperature dependent factor, which indicates how long the reactor is required to be
maintained at the desired temperature for maximum yield of pyrolysis oil. During this time, the
polymer chain breaks and affects the formation of molecular weight distribution for both liquid and
gaseous products. As discussed in the previous section, Miandad et al.(Miandad et al. 2016), after
determining the optimum temperature, they conducted tests at three different reaction times of 60, 75
and 120 minutes and finally found that optimum time of heating was 75 min. Quesada et al.(Quesada
et al. 2019) carried out pyrolysis on thin film made of polyethylene to study the effects of temperature
and residence time on oil yield. Three different temperatures (450, 500 and 550 °C) and three different
reaction times (40, 80 and 120 min) were selected to carry out the experiments. As a result, the oil
samples collected had mean pH value of 5.9, a density of 0.809 g/cm3, but viscosity was relatively
higher compared to that of diesel and gasoline. Even though a few researchers have conducted the tests
at different reaction timings, they inferred from their studies, that reaction time is also one important
factor affecting the yield rate during plastic pyrolysis process. Susastriawan et al.(Susastriawan and
Sandria 2020) carried out pyrolysis of LDPE plastic in the presence of zeolite catalyst at different sizes,
which gave maximum yield at 180 min of reaction time. The mixture of PS with other plastics like
HDPE, LDPE and PET was pyrolyzed by Siddiqui et al.(Siddiqui and Redhwi 2009) with 1%w/w
catalyst, which gave average yield of 85% at 60 min reaction time. Mixture containing real time MPW
like HDPE, LDPE, PP, PS, and PET was pyrolyzed for 60 min to obtain 80% liquid yield at 500 °C
(Singh and Ruj 2016). Similarly, Miandad et al.(Miandad et al. 2019) carried out pyrolysis of mixture
of plastics containing PS, PE, PP and PET by maintaining the reactor temperature at 450°C for 75 min.
Results indicated that the liquid oil yield was in the range of 60–70% for different ratios of plastic
having HHV of 41 MJ/kg.

Catalysts
In most of the chemical processes, catalysts are used to speed up the reaction between the chemicals. In
pyrolysis process, catalysts in addition to speeding up the reaction rate, it also enhances the hydro­
carbon distribution to obtain the maximum pyrolysis oil with gasoline or diesel like properties. Study
was conducted to examine the catalytic pyrolysis of various plastic wastes by Rehan et al.(Miandad
et al. 2017) using natural zeolites-and synthetic zeolite catalysts. The feedstock consisted of waste
plastics composed of PS, PP, PE, and PET. Polystyrene waste produced maximum amount of pyrolysis
oil as compared to other plastics. Higher liquid yield of 54% was obtained using natural zeolite when
compared to synthetic zeolite. The pyrolysis of PP with both natural and synthetic zeolite resulted in
lesser amounts of liquid oil, which was 14% and 26%, but the gaseous yields increased to 75.4% and
61%, respectively. For pyrolysis of PE with natural zeolite resulted in increased char of 50% and gas
yield decreased to 34%, whereas with synthetic zeolite there was an increase in the gaseous yield to
71.4% and reduction in the char was observed. Increase in gas yield was due to its BET surface area and
acidity of catalyst. Mixing of different kinds of plastics further decreased the liquid oil yield when
natural zeolite was used and slight increase was observed with synthetic zeolite. Synthetically devel­
oped zeolite catalyst named Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (HZSM-5) was used in the catalytic pyrolysis of
polystyrene and polycarbonate by Wang et al.(Wang et al. 2020). Pyrolysis oil had dominating benzene
and toluene content. Susastriawan et al.(Susastriawan and Sandria 2020) tested the effects of pyrolysis
of plastics based on different sizes of zeolite catalysts. LDPE plastic was used and zeolite catalyst sizes
was crushed to 1, 2, and 3 mm sizes. It has been proved that size of the zeolite influences the pyrolysis
11908 K. MURTHY ET AL.

process. Smaller catalyst size of 1 mm had higher heat transfer rate, reaction rate and oil yield.
Kassargy et al.(Kassargy et al. 2018) carried catalytic pyrolysis of PP, PE, and their mixture using
USY zeolite catalyst and obtained liquid yield of around 75% and 80% for individual plastics and
linearly increased proportion was seen on mixture of plastics. Utami et al.(Utami, Wijaya, and
Trisunaryanti 2018) developed a new type of catalyst for the pyrolysis process and studied the
influence of newly developed catalyst on thermal cracking of LDPE plastic. The sulfated zirconia
(SZ) was produced by wetness impregnation of zirconia Nano-powder and H2SO4. The sample was
dried in the oven at 100°C and heated to 600°C to form sulfated zirconia and named it as SZ. The
prepared SZ was boiled in aqueous solutions of PtCl4 at 90°C and then dried in oven at 100°C for
24 hours. The catalyst samples were heated to 600°C and maintained at that temperature for 4 hours.
The obtained catalyst was named as 0.5% Pt/SZ, 1% Pt/SZ, and 1.5% Pt/SZ. It was found that at 1.5%
Pt/SZ and temperature 250°C, the liquid yield was maximum of 74.35% (by weight). With the increase
in temperature, liquid yield reduced, and gaseous yield increased due to more cracking effect of the
plastic feeds. Thus, with higher concentration of Pt on SZ resulted in increased gasoline yield. Andrew
O Odja et al.(Odjo, García, and Marcilla 2013) conducted experiments to produce plastic oil from low
density polyethylene mixed with vacuum gas oil (VGO). The tests were conducted in a FCC reactor
unit using different mixtures of catalysts feed ratio at different temperatures to analyze the percentage
of product yield. The catalyst used for the pyrolysis process was commercial FCC based catalyst. Tests
were conducted at temperatures 500°C, 600°C, and 700°C for all the catalyst feed ratio (CFR) of 5, 7,
and 10. The gas yield increased with increase in process temperature, while solid and liquid yield
decreased, for both VGO and VGO-LDPE blends for all CFR used. Gas yield increased from 5% to
10% at 700°C. For same temperature range, liquid yield reduced from 65–78% to 45–60%. Zhang et al.
(Zhang et al. 2019) used activated carbon as a catalyst in the pyrolysis of LDPE plastic. Experiment
were conducted using seven different types of activated carbon, which resulted in maximum product
yield of 70% which had closer properties to that of jet fuel. Muhammad et al.(Muhammad, Onwudili,
and Williams 2015) used mixture of postconsumer plastics in their study of pyrolysis process in the
absence and presence of zeolite HZSM-5 catalyst. Noncatalytic pyrolysis gave higher liquid yield as
compared to catalytic pyrolysis, but the catalytic pyrolysis was rich in low molecular weight hydro­
carbons (C5–C15).
Thermo-catalytic co-pyrolysis of plastic was done by Ates et al. (Miskolczi and Ateş 2016) with
heavy oil, derived from pyrolysis of waste plastic. Three types of catalysts were used: β-zeolite, y-zeolite
and m-Ni-Mo-catalysts and pyrolyzed in a stirred batch reactor. Tests were conducted at different
temperatures and different ratios of waste heavy oil (HO). Higher pyrolysis oil and gas yield was
observed with the use of catalyst and plastic derived heavy oil. The MPW obtained for the test had 52%
HDPE, 29% LDPE, 11% PP, 3% PVC, and rest other plastic materials. The thermal pyrolysis of only
MPW gave product yield of 22% pyrolysis oil and 2% gas without catalyst. With the catalyst, both
pyrolysis oil and gas yield were increased. β-zeolite catalyst showed higher yield of pyrolysis oil of
34.2% and 8.1% gases as compared to other catalyst. As the mixture ratio of MPW-HO increased the
volatile product yield increased. For 70/30 ratio, 67.9% pyrolysis oil yield was collected whereas for 30/
70, 56.2% of pyrolysis oil was obtained. From the literature review it was understood that by mixing
heavy oil and with the use of appropriate catalyst, liquid oil yield could be increased. Heavy oil dilutes
the MPW particles, which led to higher volatile yield thus increasing catalyst efficiency. Mixture of
plastic from municipal plastic waste of Bangkok city was collected and pyrolyzed to get diesel rich
liquid yield (Areeprasert et al. 2017).

Plastic and biomass mixture

Biomass obtained as the by-products or end products of various operations or forest based
biomass etc., can be suitably used in an effective way by mixing them with plastics during pyrolysis
process. Thermal degradation of biomass material has always promised to provide significant
calorific value products, but due to the presence of oxygenated compounds, they combine with
hydrogen component and produce water/moisture in the end product, which could get mixed with
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 11909

pyrolysis oil. Several Literature reviews supported that by using catalyst in the pyrolysis of plastic
and biomass mixture, would reduce the generation of oxygen content and increase the yield with
increase in the calorific values. Sebestyen et al. (Sebestyén et al. 2017) studied the thermal
decomposition of waste plastic mixed with biomass material like newspaper, cardboards, and
other wastes. In the study they focussed on influence of temperature and catalyst ratio on the
catalytic decomposition of plastic waste. Plastic mixture containing PE (40%), PP (40%), and PET
(20%) were used with the biomass mixture of newspaper (40%), cardboard (40%), and pine saw
dust (20%) with the catalyst of HZSM-5. The catalytic pyrolysis of PE and PP started at 150°C and
increased until the mixture starts to decompose. The remaining part of the PE and PP plastic
decomposed at 470°C. When the catalyst was not used, the pyrolysis oil yield was up to 85%, 65%,
and 75% for plastic, biomass and mixture samples respectively. In the presence of catalyst, the
liquid oil yield decreased to 70.6%, 49.1%, and 59.8%, respectively, but time taken for the reaction
was reduced. Catalyst undergone degradation which led to the increase of gas yield and decreased
liquid oil. Higher gaseous yield was obtained when HZSM-5 catalyst used compared to without the
catalyst, by almost 10%. M. Razzaq et al.(Razzaq et al. 2019) used wheat straw as the biomass
material along with polystyrene in catalytic pyrolysis. A modified version of HZSM-5 catalysts was
used by adding metal oxides like cobalt, nickel, zinc, and iron. It was found that pyrolysis with
metal impregnated catalysts gave higher product yield with maximum oil yield of 39% with Co-
HZSM-5. Another biomass waste, sugarcane bagasse which is the waste material obtained from
sugar factories, was pyrolyzed along with waste LDPE plastic by Dewangan et al. (Dewangan,
Pradhan, and Singh 2016). Tests were conducted with different mixtures in a pyrolysis batch
reactor at temperature varied from 350°C to 600°C. Feedstock mixture of SCB and LDPE were
prepared with different ratios of 9:1, 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3. It was found that, with increase in
temperature, the liquid oil increased and reached 47.15% for SCB and 74.4% for LDPE at 500°C
with reduction in reaction time. The gas yield also increased with increase in temperature. For
different SCB to LDPE mixture ratios, maximum yield was obtained for 1:1 ratio with maximum
liquid yield of 52.75%. The calorific value of the liquid yield was about 40 MJ/kg which is very close
to the conventional diesel oil. Other properties like pour point, flash point, etc. were also found to
be closer to conventional fuel. Sugarcane bagasse was also used in the co-pyrolysis of polystyrene
plastic by Iftikhar et al. (2019) in the presence of HZSM-5 and HZSM-5-based metal oxides as
catalysts. MgO-based HZSM-5 performed better as catalyst, giving higher oil yield as compared to
that of CaO based HZSM-5. With HZSM-5 to MgO mass ratio of 1:3, product yield had maximum
aromatic hydrocarbon contents of 56.8%. Alam et al. (Alam et al. 2020) blended bamboo sawdust
and LDPE plastic at different ratios and carried out study on pyrolysis process. Pathak et al.
(Chattopadhyay et al. 2016) carried out plastic and biomass mixture pyrolysis in the presence of
cobalt based ceria, alumina and ceria-alumina catalysts. Plastic feedstock consisted of mixture of
HDPE, PP, and PET, and biomass material used was domestic used paper. The liquid yield
increased with increase in the plastic content in the feedstock. Cobalt based cerium catalysts
have favored the formation of liquid yield while cobalt based alumina and cerium alumina
catalysts influenced the gaseous products. Muneer et al.(Muneer et al. 2019) used cornstalk as
the biomass material in the pyrolysis of polystyrene plastic with the presence of HZSM-5 catalyst.
Experiments were carried out at different catalyst feedstock ratios and it was found that maximum
liquid yield of 66.5% was obtained at catalyst feed ratio of 1:4, having higher mono-aromatic
hydrocarbons. Pyrolysis of polyethylene, cornstalk and anthracite coal was carried out by Gou
et al. (Gou et al. 2019) in order to investigate the product yield. With the addition of cornstalk, the
decomposition temperature decreased and hence enhanced the product yield. Yu et al. (Yu, Hui,
and Li 2019) used walnut shell and LDPE plastic in the catalytic pyrolysis to obtain aromatic rich
pyrolysis oil. Chunmei et al. (Chunmei et al. 2014) conducted a study on pyrolysis of plastic (PE/
PP) mixed with lignite in tube furnace at different mixture ratios, to investigate the percentage of
product yield, at different temperatures and heating ratios. Initially pyrolysis of only lignite was
carried out, and it was found that gaseous yield increased with increase in temperature, while char
11910 K. MURTHY ET AL.

production reduced. Then based on this observation, co-pyrolysis of lignite + plastic mixture was
done at 550°C to study the influence of yield with plastic mixture at different ratios. The major
product yield was tar and gas which was due to their high hydrogen-carbon molecules.

Mixture of plastics, biomass materials, and catalysts

Instead of using a single type of plastic, biomass material or a catalyst, investigations related to mixing
of the various types of plastics or mixing of different types of biomass materials and also catalysts on
the yield of liquid and gaseous fuel have been conducted by different researchers. Sajdak (Sajdak 2017)
studied pyrolysis of two blends of plastics. Blend 1 comprised 30% m/m styrene butadiene rubber,
40% m/m (mass/mass) polyethylene terephthalate and 30% m/m polypropylene. Blend 2 comprised
40% m/m PET, 30% m/m PP, and 30% m/m acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer. Average liquid
yield of 53.6% for blend 1 and 56.4% for blend 2 were obtained. Sajdak et al. (Sajdak and Muzyka 2014)
conducted a study on copyrolysis of polymers with two types of biomass material to investigate the
effect of using a polymer on product yield. The biomass material were pinewood and alder wood
mixed with PP plastic. It was observed that 57% of liquid product was resulted from pine wood and
increased with addition of polymer to 64%. Similar results were obtained for alder wood as well, with
maximum liquid yield of 57% with polyethylene mixture. It is clear that addition of polymer to
biomass pyrolysis has direct impact on liquid yield. Also, the gaseous product increased for blends of
biomass and polymer as compared to polymer alone. Further it was also recorded that the conversion
efficiency of biomass to oil increased with addition of polymer. Also the higher heating value of the
pyrolysis oil were obtained from blends of plastic and biomass, 34 MJ/kg, as compared to that of
biomass alone, 32 MJ/kg. Plastic was also copyrolyzed with biomass material like Walnut shells and
peach stones by Ozsin et al.(Ozsin and Pütün 2018) to study the improvements in the pyrolysis
products. Plastics used were PET, PS and PVC and product yield was compared for both individuals
and mixture of plastics. They concluded that no much improvement in liquid oil yield for the various
combinations. Only 28% liquid yield was obtained and with considerably higher gaseous yield for all
the combination in the experiments. Wang et al. (Wang et al. 2019) used synthesized CeO2/ϒ-Al2O3
and HZSM-5 in the pyrolysis of LDPE plastic blended with bamboo sawdust biomass material. The
product obtained had rich aromatic hydrocarbons and was maximum when feedstock had 75% LDPE
and catalyst ratio of 1:3 (CeO2/ϒ-Al2O3: HZSM-5). Ates et al. (Miskolczi, Ateş, and Borsodi 2013)
investigated pyrolysis process using many catalysts and compared the results with each other. Both
municipal plastic waste (MPW) and municipal solid waste (MSW) were used as raw materials in their
study and tested at 3 different temperatures. MSW had 58% plastics, 28% paper, 8% other organic
wastes like wood, paper, etc., 5% textile or synthetic fibers and 3% metals. MPW had 59% PE, 25% PP,
7% PS, and 9% PET, PVC (poly vinyl chloride). Equal quantities of MPW and MSW were taken during
the experiments. Seven different catalysts used during the tests include y-zeolite, β-zeolite, equilibrium
FCC, MoO3, Ni-Mo-catalyst, HZSM-5 and Al (OH)3. It was found that by the usage of catalysts, yield
of volatile components were higher. MPW oil had better properties than that of MSW oil. Pyrolysis of
waste polymer mixture, consisting of PE (62%), PP (33%) and PS (5%) was tried in a fluidized bed
reactor by Chen et al(Huang et al. 2010). Different catalysts like USY, ZSM-5, MOR (Mordenite
zeolite), and ASA (Amorphous Silica Alumina) were used in the test. The yield of volatile hydro­
carbons for zeolite catalyst was higher and the yield increased for ZSM-5 with 93.1 wt.%. Similar
observation were obtained for ZSM-5 and MOR, 58–66 wt.% and 26–32 wt.% and for MCM-4, 22–26
wt.%, and 60–63 wt.%, having hydrocarbon falling in the range of gasoline fuel. Ojha et al. (Ojha and
Vinu 2015) used microcrystalline cellulose powder for the pyrolysis of waste PP. Mixture of plastic and
cellulose were experimented at different ratios. Hydrocarbons were the main products of the pyrolysis,
but it also contained alcohols, ketones and acids due to the reaction between the cellulose and plastic.
Pyrolysis of four plastics, HDPE, PP, PET, PS, and their mixture were done by Lopez et al. (Barbarias
et al. 2018) in a conical spouted bed reactor using steam reforming catalyst. The catalyst has a metallic
phase of Ni supported on Al2O3, which was doped with Ca, with the chemical formulation of NiO
(14 wt %), CaAl2O4, and Al2O3. HDPE gave oil yield of 32.5% wt having C5–C20 range hydrocarbons.
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 11911

PP resulted in the oil yield of 24 wt.%. Commercial wood plastic composite (WPC) was pyrolyzed with
microporous catalysts by Jung et al.(Park et al. 2019) where the experiments intended for the study of
decomposition rate and the product yield from the pyrolysis process. The results indicated that the
formation efficiency of aromatic hydrocarbons during the catalytic pyrolysis of wood plastic compo­
site was affected by the catalyst properties and the contact mode between the WPC and catalyst. Lin
et al. (Lin et al. 2018) pyrolyzed-poplar wood polypropylene composite (WPP) with PP plastic using
ZnO, CaO, Fe2O3, and MgO catalysts. The hydrocarbon yields were different for different oxides.
Higher C4-C24 hydrocarbon yield was formed in the presence of metal oxides as they promote more
cleavage of polyolefins and wax-hydrocarbons. The increase in smaller hydrocarbons (C4–C15) over
metal oxides is higher than the increase of larger hydrocarbons (C16–C24). LDPE plastic was pyrolyzed
using CaO/SiO2 catalyst by Saleem et al. (Saleem et al. 2020). It was found that the maximum liquid
yield of 69 wt% was obtained at optimum temperature of 300°C, 90 min time, and CFR of 1:0.4. HDPE
plastic was pyrolyzed with red oak biomass by Brown et al. (Xue et al. 2015) in a fluidized bed reactor.
The ratio of plastic biomass mixture was 1:4 and experiments were carried out at different tempera­
tures. It was found that at 625°C, maximum oil yield of 58% obtained with HHV of 36 MJ/kg and rest
was char and gaseous product. Yang et al. (Yang et al. 2016) used three kinds of biomass material in the
pyrolysis of LDPE plastic to improve the decomposition of plastic and studied the hydrocarbon
distribution. Cedar wood, sunflower stalk, and Fallopia Japonica stem were the biomass material
and mixed with LDPE plastic individually. The mixture of cedar and plastic gave highest oil yield at
600°C containing major proportion of hydrocarbons. Suriapparao et al.(Suriapparao et al. 2018) used
biomass like groundnut shell, bagasse, rice husk, Prosopis juliflora (PJF) and mixed wood sawdust, in
the copyrolysis of PP and PS plastic. The pyrolysis process was carried out in a microwave oven setup
at 450 W power. They obtained the oil having 32 MJ/kg HHV and the oil yield was highest for saw dust
and plastic mixture.
Rohith et al.(Singh and Ruj 2016) conducted pyrolysis using mixture of plastics with a proportion
approximately equal to that in real world municipal waste plastic percentage. The mixture consisted of
HDPE, LDPE, PP, and small portions of PS and PET. The experiments were conducted in a batch
reactor and the oil yield was around 80% and maximum obtained at a temperature of 600°C. Ratnasari
et al.(Ratnasari, Nahil, and Williams 2017) carried out two stage pyrolysis of HDPE and LDPE plastic
with solid acid catalysts and compared the yield variation. The catalysts used were mesoporous MCM-
41 followed by microporous ZSM-5 and also with different MCM-41: ZSM-5 catalyst ratios. High oil
yield of 97% was obtained for catalyst pyrolysis with most contents of aromatic hydrocarbons
(gasoline).
Study of pyrolysis process was done by Jin et al. (Jin et al. 2018) in a vertical film reactor using
Polypropylene plastic as raw material. The vertical film reactor setup consists of four main parts
namely the pyrolysis system, the heating and control systems, the condensing and collecting system
and the non-condensable gas treatment system. The PP was melted in the melting tank and nitrogen
was used to flow the molten plastic into the top of falling film plate. From the thermogravimetric (TG)
data, the film plate was heated up to decomposition temperature, for molten plastic to decompose and
then condense to oil. Uncondensed gas was also collected. Increase in temperature from 550°C to 650°
C, decreased the liquid yield and increased the gaseous yield. Plastic pyrolysis was also conducted with
metal impregnated zeolite catalysts by Akubo et al. (Akubo, Nahil, and Williams 2017) to study the
improvement in the production of pyrolysis oil. HDPE plastic was pyrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor
with zeolite impregnated metals like nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), gallium (Ga), ruthe­
nium (Ru), and cobalt (Co). Pyrolysis oil yield decreased slightly for metal impregnated zeolite, as
compared to zeolite alone, but there was less deposition of carbon on the catalysts.
It can be summarized that addition of various types of catalysts together with biomass based
additives for the different types of plastics will enhance both liquid as well as gaseous yield. Heating
value of the extracted oil has shown a higher value as compared to the oil without addition of catalyst
and biomass based additives. But further research is required to optimize the percentage of catalyst
11912 K. MURTHY ET AL.

and additive to be added to the various types of plastics in order to increase conversion efficiency both
qualitatively and quantitatively.
In order to check the feasibility of usage of plastic oil in the existing engine, Kaimal et al.(Kaimal
and Vijayabalan 2016) conducted experiments by using the plastic derived oil. Plastic oil was derived
from pyrolysis of LDPE plastic. A diesel engine of 3.7 kW running at 1500 RPM was used for analysis.
The experiments were carried out with 100% PO, 25% PO-75% diesel (PO25), 50% PO-50% diesel
(PO50), and 75% PO-25% diesel (PO75) blends. It was observed that thermal efficiency reduces with
the addition of PO to diesel. The thermal efficiency with neat diesel was 30.86% and it reduced for
blends, showing 29.8% for PO25, 29.2% for PO50, 28.3% for PO75, and 27.4% for neat plastic oil.
When the pollutants were compared unburnt hydrocarbon (UBHC) for diesel with full load was 22
ppm and PO 32 ppm, 26 ppm for PO25, 27 ppm for PO50, and 29 ppm for PO75. The increase in
UBHC with increased proportion of PO was because of the fuel clogged in the piston crevices during
combustion. The clogging in the crevices was due to high viscosity and density. The CO emission for
diesel varied from 0.7 vol.% to 0.3 vol.% (from no load to full load) and for neat PO, it varied from 1.2
vol.% to 0.5 vol.%. Also for PO blends, CO emission varied 0.7 vol.%–0.3 vol.%, 0.95 vol.%–0.4 vol.%,
and 1 vol.%–0.47 vol.% for PO25, PO50, and PO75 respectively. It was found that NOx emission for
PO was 1582 ppm and that of diesel was 1240 ppm. For blends, it was 1300, 1375, and 1461 ppm for
PO25, PO50, and PO75 respectively. These results indicated that on increasing the PO substitution,
engine performance deteriorates as well as emission values also increase. Hence optimum percentage
of PO substitution can be implemented in a diesel engine which will certainly help to save diesel and
hence helps to conserve the conventional energy sources. Kalargaris et al.(Kalargaris, Tian, and Gu
2017) also investigated the pyrolysis oil in a four cylinder diesel engine. Pyrolysis oil was prepared
from the mixture of styrene butadiene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and rosin. The effi­
ciency of the engine decreased by 3–4% as compared to conventional diesel, with increased NOx,
UHC, and CO emissions.
Summary of the work carried by various researchers and the important findings are listed in Table2
The above review indicates that pyrolysis of only plastic will lead to lower the liquid oil yield.
Addition of catalyst will enhance the rate of reaction by breaking the long chain polymers into smaller
chain hydrocarbon liquids and gases thus enhancing the system efficiency as well as the yield. Further
addition of biodegradable materials or waste biomass materials helps to increase the yield of liquid oil
and also the quality. Since pyrolysis process take place at an elevated temperature and requires higher
reaction time, optimizing the parameters along with the addition of different types of catalysts needs
thorough investigation and study. In this context, further experimental investigations are needed in
identifying the various other types of catalysts, biomass materials and their influence on the yield rate,
reaction temperature, and reaction time. It also require optimization of parameters regarding pyrolysis
for best possible results.

Cost analysis
A sample calculation for the cost incurred for producing oil from waste plastics by pyrolysis process
with and without catalyst has been shown and discussed below.
Assumptions:

(1) Raw materials, which is waste/used plastics, are readily available and for free of cost.
(2) Cleaning and sorting of plastic is not necessary. Plastics are directly used from dump yard.
(3) Cost of initial permits and approvals for installation of plant is neglected.
(4) The end product cost is not the exact cost and may vary based on various conditions, like
location, availability of material, inflation, etc.

Equipment to be considered for the pyrolysis process (based on available waste tyre pyrolysis plant)
Table 2. Summary of literature review on feedstock type, biomass material, and type of catalyst.
Sl
no. Feedstock Catalyst Observation Quality of oil Author Reference
1 Polystyrene (PS) Nil Pyrolysis oil – 81% (Containing Styrene, toluene, HHV: 41 MJ/kg Miandad et al. (Miandad et al.
etc) Density: 0.93 g/cm3 2016)
Viscosity: 2.34cP
Pour point: −18 °C
Flash point: 29 °C
2 PP and HDPE Nil Liquid yield 69.8% at 300°C for PP HHV PP HDPE I. Ahmad et al. (Ahmad et al.
Liquid yield 80.88% at 350°C for HDPE Density 35.5 MJ/ 30.6MJ/ 2015)
Viscosity kg kg
Pour pt. 0.86 g/ 0.89 g/
3
Flash Pt. cm cm3
Diesel 3.52 cP 4.52 cP
index -9 °C -5 °C
30 °C 48 °C
34.35 31.05
3 HDPE, LDPE, PS, and their Nil Pyrolysis oil −80% HHV: 46 MJ/kg P. Das et al. (Das and Tiwari
mixture Hydrocarbon range C12-20 Density: 0.8g/cm3 2018)
Viscosity: 0.17cP (PE); 0.9cP (PP)
Pour point: −23 °C (PP); 15°C (PE)
Flash point: 40 °C
Fire point: 44 °C
Iso paraffin index: 0.16(PE); 1.41
(PP)
4 PS, PP, PE, and PET Natural and synthetic Maximum liquid yield 60% for synthetic zeolites HHV: 42.9MJ/kg (Synthetic zeolite); Miandad et al. (Miandad et al.
zeolites while with natural zeolites 38% HHV: 41.7 MJ/kg (natural zeolite) 2017)
Oil composites: Azulene,
Naphthalene, 2-methyl, Biphenyl,
Phenanthrene, Naphthalene,
2-phenyl, Phenol, 2,20-
methylenebis
[6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methyl].
5 Mixture of PP and PE β-zeolite, y-zeolite Liquid yield without catalyst 34% for MPW/HO HHV: 41 MJ/kg F. Ates et al. (Miskolczi and
and m-Ni-Mo-catalysts ratio of 30/70, Liquid yield 73% with β-zeolite Density: 0.85 g/cm3 Ateş 2016)
catalyst Viscosity: 168 cP
ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Flash point: 193 °C

Aliphatic paraffin content: 35%
(Continued)
11913
 11914

Table 2. (Continued).
Sl
no. Feedstock Catalyst Observation Quality of oil Author Reference
6 LDPE and sugarcane bagasse Nil Maximum liquid yield 52.75% for 1:1 SCB:LDPE HHV: 40 MJ/kg D. Pradhan (Dewangan,
blend ratio at 500°C Specific gravity: 0.86 et al. Pradhan, and
Viscosity: 4.85cP Singh 2016)
Pour point: −16 °C
Flash point: 29 °C
K. MURTHY ET AL.

Water content: 10.18%

Carbon residue: 2%
7 PE, PP, and Lignite Nil Lignite acts as a hydrogen donor increases the Q. Chunmei (Chunmei et al.
aromatic compounds in the product yield. et al. 2014)
3
8 Thin-film polyethylene Nil Pyrolysis oil having properties close to that of Density: 0.8 g/cm L. Quesada (Quesada et al.
diesel but with higher viscosity. Viscosity: 92.8cP et al. 2019)
Cetane index: 74 (Diesel Cetane
index-60)
pH: 6
9 LDPE Zeolites Smaller catalyst size of 1 mm higher heat transfer HHV: 45.5 MJ/kg A.A.P. Susastriawan
rate, reaction rate and oil yield. Density: 0.75 g/cm3 et al.
(Susastriawan and Sandria
2020)
10 PS mixed with PP, PE, and PET Hydro processing catalyst Catalytic pyrolysis of all mixture having 1:1 ratio M. Siqqiqui (Siddiqui and
gave the maximum liquid yield et al. Redhwi 2009)
11 LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, and PET Nil Liquid yield about 80% at 600 °C. Rohit et al. (Singh and Ruj
2016)
12 PS, PP, PE, and PET Modified natural zeolite Liquid yield 70% for PS HHV- 44.2 MJ/kg R. Miandad (Miandad et al.
Liquid yield 54% for PP Oil composition: Benzene, 1,1ʹ- et al. 2019)
Liquid yield 42% for PE (1,3-propanediyl)bis,
1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid,
disooctyl ester, bibenzyl,
phenanthrene,
2-phenylnaphthalene, benzene,
4-methyl-1-decenyl and so on
13 PS and polycarbonate HZSM-5 Pyrolysis of mixture indicated 204.7% increase in J. Wang et al. (Wang et al.
the yield as compared to that of polycarbonate 2020)
alone
14 PP, PE, and their mixture USY zeolite Liquid yield for PP was 75% and for PE it was 80%. Density: 0.8 g/cm3 C. Kassargy (Kassargy et al.
Linearly increasing liquid production was Viscosity: 1.71cP et al. 2018)
obtained while adding PP to PE. Flash point: 91 °C
Cetane number: 45.05
(Continued)
Table 2. (Continued).
Sl
no. Feedstock Catalyst Observation Quality of oil Author Reference
15 LDPE Platinum promoted sulfated Liquid yield 67.5% M.Utami et al. (Utami, Wijaya,
zirconia with 1.5% Pt/SZ with gasoline range and
hydrocarbons Trisunaryanti
2018)
16 LDPE and vaccum gas oil Fluid catalytic cracking Gas yield increased with increase in process Andrew O Odja (Odjo, García,
catalyst temperature, char and liquid yield decreased, for et al. and Marcilla
VGO-LDPE blends for all catalyst feed ratio used 2013)
17 LDPE Activated carbon Maximum liquid yield 70% Jet fuel range hydrocarbons Y. Zhang et al. (Zhang et al.
C8-C16 Alkanes as major components Liquid composition: Methane, 2019)
ethane, ethylene, propane.
18 PE, PP, and PET HZSM-5 Liquid yield 81%wt for without catalyst Liquid composition: Benzene, C. Muhammad (Muhammad,
Liquid yield 51%wt with catalyst Toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, et al. Onwudili, and
(Liquid enriched with low molecular weight styrenes Williams
hydrocarbons) 2015)
19 LDPE, HDPE, PP, and its Nil Liquid yield for LDPE was highest (60%) HHV: 39 MJ/kg C. Areeprasert (Areeprasert
mixture Oil composition: Pentanol, et al. et al. 2017)
Cyclopentene, Phenol,
Cyclohexan, Decane, Tetradecane,
Pentadecanol, Hexadecene,
Octadecanol, Octadecane and
Nonadecene.
20 PE, PP, and PET mixed with HZSM-5 Liquid yield 59.8% for mixture with the catalyst HHV: 34.7 MJ/kg Z. Sebestyen (Sebestyén et al.
newspaper and cardboard Liquid yield 74.7% without catalyst. Oil composition: Aromatic et al. 2017)
compounds like Benzene,
Toluene, cumene, xylenes,
styrenes.
21 PS and wheat straw Metal oxides impregnated Maximum liquid yield 39% HHV: 41.5 MJ/kg M. Razzaq et al. (Razzaq et al.
HZSM-5 Density: 0.88 g/cm3 2019)
Viscosity: 1.94cP
Flash point: 19°C
Pour point: −40°C
Fire point: 23.5°C
22 PS and sugarcane bagasse Metal oxides impregnated MgO based HZSM-5 performed better as catalyst HHV- 41.5 MJ/kg H. Ifthikar et al. (Iftikhar et al.
HZSM-5 with higher oil yield compared CaO based Density- 0.87 g/cm3 2019)
HZSM-5 Viscosity- 2.92cP
Flash point: 24°C
ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Pour point: −39°C

Oil composition: Benzene, Alpha-
methyle styrene, Naphthalene,
4-phenanthrenol, Anthracene,
indene, fluorene, etc.
11915

(Continued)
Table 2. (Continued).
11916

Sl
no. Feedstock Catalyst Observation Quality of oil Author Reference
23 LDPE and bamboo sawdust Nil Feedstock ratio with 25 wt.% bamboo sawdust and M. Alam et al. (Alam et al.
75% LDPE had highest synergistic interaction. 2020)
24 PE, PP, PET, and domestic Cobalt-based alumina, ceria, Liquid yield decreased with decrease in plastic in Liquid composition: Aromatic T.S Pathak et al. (Chattopadhyay
papers and ceria-alumina the blend. compounds like Benzene, et al. 2016)
Toluene, xylenes, ethyle benzene,
Naphthalene and olefins like
ethylene, propylene, butene.
K. MURTHY ET AL.

25 PS and cornstalk HZSM-5 Maximum Liquid yield 66.5% with catalyst feed HHV: 41.8 MJ/kg B. Muneer et al. (Muneer et al.
ratio of 1:4 Density: 0.9 g/cm3 2019)
Viscosity: 4.1cP
Flash point: 23°C
Pour point: −41°C
Oil composition: 80% Mono
aromatic hydrocarbon, 15%
polyaromatic hydrocarbon,
olefins, oxygenates, acids.
26 PE, cornstalk, and anthracite Nil Addition of anthracite coal enhanced the X. Gou et al. (Gou et al. 2019)
coal formation polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in
the product
27 LDPE and walnut shell HZSM-5 Liquid yield with aromatic compound of 82.5% Liquid composition: Aromatic D. Yu et al. (Yu, Hui, and Li
compounds like benzene, 2019)
toluene, xylenes.
28 PP, PET, Styrene butadiene Nil Average liquid yield 55% Liquid composition: Ethylene, M. Sajdak (Sajdak 2017)
rubber, and wood ethane, propene, propane,
butane, pentane.
29 PP, pine wood, and alder Nil Liquid yield 64% HHV: 38.1 MJ/kg (pinewood); M. Sajdak et al. (Sajdak and
wood Pine wood and plastic. 36.3 MJ/kg (alderwood) Muzyka 2014)
Liquid yield 57%
Alder wood and plastic.
30 PET, PS, PVC, walnut shell, and Nil Liquid yield had 87% carbon contents for walnut HHV: 40.52 MJ/kg G. Ozsin et al (Ozsin and
peach stones shell/PVC mixture Pütün 2018)
31 LDPE and bamboo sawdust Synthesized CeO2/ϒ-Al2O3 Aromatic rich hydrocarbon liquid obtained J. Wang et al. (Wang et al.
and HZSM-5 1:3 catalyst ratio. 2019)
32 PE, PP, PS, paper, and organic Y-zeolite, b-zeolite, More gaseous yield was obtained with average Cetane index: 52 F. Ates et al. (Miskolczi, Ateş,
wastes equilibrium FCC, MoO3, 28% of liquid yield. Flash point: 60°C and Borsodi
Ni-Mo-catalyst, HZSM-5 2013)
and Al(OH)3
33 PE, PP, and PS USY, ZSM-5, MOR, and ASA Maximum liquid yield for HZSM-5, having major Chien-Chung (Huang et al.
gasoline components Chen et al. 2010)
(Continued)
Table 2. (Continued).
Sl
no. Feedstock Catalyst Observation Quality of oil Author Reference
34 PP and microcrystalline Nil Main product of pyrolysis Hydrocarbons Oil yield Oil composition: Alcohols, D. Ojha et al. (Ojha and Vinu
cellulose powder contains hydrocarbons, anhydrosugars, 2015)
alcohols, ketones and acids aldehydes/ketones, furans
35 HDPE, PP, PET, PS, and their NiO (14 wt.%), CaAl2O4 and Liquid yield 32.5% wt having C5-20 with HDPE G. Lopez et al. (Barbarias et al.
mixture Al2O3 Liquid yield 24 wt.% with PP 2018)
36 Wood plastic composite HZSM-5 Pyrolysis oil dominated by Aromatic hydrocarbons J.S. Jung et al. (Park et al. 2019)
37 PP and poplar wood ZnO, CaO, Fe2O3-, and aMgO Higher C4–C24 hydrocarbon in the presence of Liquid composition: Benzene, Xiaona Lin (Lin et al. 2018)
polypropylene composite metal oxides. phenols, alkenes, esters, furans, et al.
alkadienes, ketones.
38 LDPE CaO/SiO2 Maximum liquid yield 69 wt.% at optimum Density: 0.8 g/cm2 M. Saleem et al. (Saleem et al.
temperature of-300°C, 90 min time and CFR of Viscosity: 3.34cP 2020)
1:0.4 Flash point: 108°C
39 HDPE and red oak Nil Maximum yield 58% and rest was char and HHV: 9.73 MJ/kg R. Brown et al. (Xue et al. 2015)
gaseous at 625°C. Oil composition: Phenol,
2,6-Dimethoxy phenol,
2,6-Methoxy 4-propenyl phenol,
3,5-Dimethoxy 4-hydroxy
acetonphenone, 3,5-Dimethoxy
4-hydroxy benzenaldehyde,
Hydroquinone,
3,5-Dimethoxy acetophenone
40 LDPE, cedar wood, sunflower Nil Maximum oil yield of 64% at 600°C. Oil composition: Benzene, Toluene, J. Yang et al. (Yang et al.
stalk, and Fallopia Japonica octene, pentadecane, decene, 2016)
stem nonene, heptane.
41 PP, PS, groundnut shell, Nil Liquid oil yield range 51–60 wt.% for PS-mixed HHV: 39.2 MJ/kg D. Suriapparao (Suriapparao
bagasse, rice husk, Prosopis wood sawdust mixture. Viscosity: 3cP et al. et al. 2018)
juliflora (PJF) and wood Density: 1.123 g/cm3
sawdust Oil composition: Monoaromatics,
polyaromatics, phenolics,
guaiocols, linear oxygenates,
syringols.
42 HDPE and LDPE MCM-41 and HZSM-5 High oil yield of 97% for catalyst pyrolysis with Ratnasari et al. (Ratnasari, Nahil,
most contents of aromatic hydrocarbons. and Williams
2017)
43 PP Nil Liquid yield reduced with increase in the reactor HHV: 42.5 MJ/kg Zechen Jin (Jin et al. 2018)
ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

temperature. Density: 0.85 g/cm3 et al.

44 HDPE Metal impregnated zeolite Pyrolysis oil yield decreased slightly for metal K. Akubo et al. (Akubo, Nahil,
impregnated zeolite compared to zeolite alone and Williams
2017)
(Continued)
11917
 11918
K. MURTHY ET AL.

Table 2. (Continued).
Sl
no. Feedstock Catalyst Observation Quality of oil Author Reference
45 LDPE Nil Pyrolysis oil tested in diesel engine performed well HHV: 44.2 MJ/kg V. Kaimal et al. (Kaimal and
Bring it to last item in the with slight increase in NOx, UHC in the exhaust Density: 0.83 g/cm3 Vijayabalan
table Viscosity: 2.19cP 2016)
Cetane number: 50
Flash point: 40°C
Fire point: 44°C
Sulfur content: 0.025 wt.%
46 Styrene Butadiene, Nil Liquid yield 65% (properties closer to diesel) HHV: 38.3 MJ/kg I. Kalargaris (Kalargaris, Tian,
Polyethylene, Density: 0.98 g/cm3 et al. and Gu 2017)
Polypropylene, Polyester, Viscosity: 1.88cP
and rosin Flash point:13°C
Oil composition: Benzene,
naphthalenes, cyclopentene,
phenols, cresols, xylene, tolune,
cyclobutene.
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 11919

(1) A reactor where the pyrolysis takes place. 10TPD capacity vessel.

Specification:

● B.Q plate SA 516 (grade70), 16 mm thickness with operating pressure 0.2 kg/bar and horizontal
placed.
● Size: 2.6 × 6.6 meter (Diameter × Length).

(1) Two condensers for condensing the liquid and two collecting tank to collect the liquid yield.
● A jacked pipe heat exchanger. Vapors circulates at inner tube and water in the annular region.
● 5 ton collecting tank made of mild steel.
(2) A nitrogen plant to maintain an inert environment inside the vessel and to transport the
volatile vapors formed in the vessel to the condensers.
● Capacity: 500 liter
● Feed air compressor (screw type)
● Nitrogen purity: 99%
● Maximum pressure: 5 kg/cm2
(3) Blower: 5HP, 1450 RPM, 3 phase
(4) Chimney: 100 ft, Mild steel

Calculation:

(1) Cost of land/area (90ʹ × 120ʹ) (Average cost of land at Mangalore @ Rs 4000/ft2 )

= Rs 4,32,00,000

(1) Initial cost for machines (vessel, heat exchanger, and tanks) = Rs 65,00,000
(2) Auxiliary equipment
(i) Nitrogen plant = Rs 5,00,000
(ii) Blowers and chimneys = Rs 5,00,000
(3) Life cycle of the plant is 10 years.

Total capital cost of the plant = Rs. 5,07,00,000

Rs50700000
Cost per kg of waste plastic = 10years�365days�10000kgs
≈ Rs 1.5/kg

(1) Heat input, coal or wood, 1500 kg/day – Rs 5/kg = Rs 0.75/kg

(2) Electric energy input
(i) Vessel rotor (45 HP for 24 h) = 45×0.746kWh×24 h×Rs 5/kWh

=Rs 0.4/kg

(i) Blower and nitrogen pumps (15 HP) = Rs 0.15/kg

(1) Human resources

(i) Production Manager = Rs 50,000/month
(ii) Maintenance engineer = Rs 40,000/month
(iii) Semi-skilled workers = Rs 15,000/month × 6 nos

Total cost = Rs. 180,000/month

= Rs 0.72/kg
11920 K. MURTHY ET AL.

Total conversion cost (Energy input + Human resources)≈ Rs 2/kg of plastic

Without catalysts
Average percentage of oil (HHV about 42 MJ/kg) obtained for 1 kg of plastic = 53%
Cost of plastic derived oil = Rs 3.5/0.53
≈ Rs 7/liter

With catalysts
(i) Commonly used catalyst is Silica-Alumina catalyst (Zeolite) costing Rs 70/kg.
(ii) Used in ratio of 1:10. cost of catalyst = Rs 7/kg of plastic
(iii) Average percentage of oil produced for

1 kg of plastic = 65%
Cost of plastic derived oil = Rs 3.5/0.65
≈ Rs 5.5 + 7
≈ Rs 12.5/liter
Therefore, the base price of plastic derived oil would be around Rs 12.5/liter if production was done
with catalyst and would be around Rs 7/liter if no catalyst was used. Also, with the use of catalyst, the
production takes place at faster rate, which in-turn reduces the energy input required, reducing the
cost. Base price of conventional fuel is around Rs 36/liter. Hence, it can be clearly stated the cost of
PDO is much lower as compared to conventional fuel.
There are certain limitations with the production and usage of pyrolysis oil. Pyrolysis of plastic
produces residues which gets stuck inside the reactor and hence frequent cleaning is necessary. Only
batch wise production is possible, as it require inert environment inside the reactor, supply of raw
material to vessel is difficult. When these pyrolysis oil is used in the existing diesel engine, emission of
CO, NOx and unburnt HC is higher as compared to that of available diesel fuel. It also produces
cracking and vibration of the engine leading to reduced efficiency. The pyrolysis oil could be used in
diesel generators and heavy vehicles like tractors by blending with diesel.

Conclusion
With the increase in population, the energy demand is also increasing, at the same time, natural
resources for energy are decreasing. Hence, various researchers are trying their level best to find the
alternate source for energy. Due to the increased usage of plastic, amount of plastic waste generated is
increasing day by day. Pyrolysis process is chosen as the best process for waste plastic conversion, as
the product yield from this process can be used directly to produce energy. No toxic gases or by
products produced during the conversion. A comprehensive review of waste plastic pyrolysis is carried
out by considering the various operating parameters that effects the production of pyrolysis oil and
other residues. The following conclusions can be drawn from the paper:
The important parameters such as thermal degradation, temperature, reaction time, etc., in
conversion of plastics to fuel depends on the type of the plastic being considered.

(i) Oil yield rate could be increased by the addition of catalysts during the pyrolysis process.
Various studies have been done on the use of different types of catalysts. The general catalysts
considered are silica, alumina, zeolite and their combinations. Laboratory developed catalysts
like platinum sulfated zirconia proved to have positive result on pyrolysis process.
(ii) Plastic was mixed with different biomass materials in order to enhance the product yield.
Sugarcane bagasse mixed with plastic has resulted in more volatile product yield and it also
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 11921

reduced process cost, since no catalyst was required. Also, mixing of biomass materials like
paper, woods, etc. have shown higher yield with higher calorific values.
(iii) Product yield from pyrolysis also depends on the type of reactor used. Various researches have
been done on batch type reactor, since it is easy to design and fabricate and also easy to
control, Fluidized bed reactor helps in uniform mixing of feedstock and catalyst.
(iv) Additional research is required to optimize the percentage of catalyst and additive to be added
to the various types of plastics in order to increase conversion efficiency both qualitatively and
quantitatively.

Hence pyrolysis is one of the novel energy conversion technology which helps in the development of
sustainable energy as well as providing solution for the waste disposal of used plastics. The present
review helps researchers and investigators about the updated information on the various technology
adopted in the conversion of plastic to fuel by pyrolysis and it also provides an insight into the future
scope for further investigations.

Nomenclature

Al2O3 Alumina
ASA Amorphous ilica alumina
BET Brunauer Emmet Teller
CaAl2O4 Calcium aluminate
CaO Calcium oxide
FCC Fluidized catalytic cracking
Fe2O3 Ferric oxide
HDPE High-density polyethylene
HZSM-5 Zeolite (Si/Al ratio = 30)
LDPE Low-density polyethylene
MgO Magnesium oxide
MOR zeolite Mordenite zeolite
MPW Municipal plastic waste
MSW Municipal solid waste
PDO Plastic-derived oil
PET Polyethylene terephthalate
PP Polypropylene
PS Polystyrene
PVC Polyvinyl chloride
SiO2 Silicon dioxide
TG Thermogravimetric
USY zeolite Ultra-stable Y zeolite
VGO Vacuum gas oil
WPC Wood plastic composite

Notes on contributors
Dr Krishna Murthy is working as Associate Professor (Sr Scale) in the department of Mechanical Engineering . He
obtained his P.hD from Visvesvaraya Technological university in the area of dual fuel combustion. His research intersts
include Engine combustion, Alternate fuels, pollution, Refrigeration
Mr Rahul Shetty is a post graduate Student from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal in Thermal power and
Energy Systems.
Dr Siva Kumar is an Associate Professor (Sr-Scale) in the department of Mechanical Engineering. He obtained his P.hD
from Visvesvaraya Techaological University in the area of Intrnal combustion Engines. His research interests include
Alternate Fuels, Engine combustion, Desiccant Cooling, green Energy and CFD studies.
11922 K. MURTHY ET AL.

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