A critical review of the correlative effect of process parameters on pyrolysis of plastic wastes - ScienceDirect 10/01/24, 1:24 p.m.

Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

Volume 170, March 2023, 105907

A critical review of the correlative effect of process

parameters on pyrolysis of plastic wastes
Mahadevan Vaishnavi a, Prasad Mohan Vasanth b, Sundararajan Rajkumar b , Kannappan Panchamoorthy Gopinath c,
Yuvarajan Devarajan d

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Abstract

Plastics contribute significantly to the plight of an ideal solid waste management system, and the dilemma of its safe
disposal upon harnessing its untapped potential still looms large. An appropriate answer to such a predicament is an
energy conversion technology that deems both economically and environmentally profitable. Pyrolysis of plastic
wastes has been attempted for commercialisation unsuccessfully throughout the last decade, owing to the substandard
economisation of the process and non-compliance of its products to emission standards. Though the pyrolysis
technology and the parameters involved have been extensively studied, a gap exists in the practical implementation
due to its complex mechanism involving many variables that play a significant role in products' yield, distribution and
the system's overall performance. The present work strives to statistically analyse the effect of feedstock and other
operational parameters on pyrolysis oil yield and quantify their impacts utilising Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC).
The intensity and significance of the impact of the operational parameters are studied, and a ranking system is
attempted to help in the technology's successful priority-optimisation technique and implementation. The results
suggested that the reaction temperature is the most critical parameter, with positive PCCs of 0.857 and 0.855 for
pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis, respectively. The percentages of Carbon and Hydrogen (H %), residence time, heating rate
(HR) and amount of catalyst exhibited positive correlations with oil yield. Among the negatively correlated parameters,
the moisture content in feedstock presented a high PCC of − 0.830, followed by particle size. This work presents a
collective statistical quantification that aids us in the priority-based optimisation of the pyrolysis process.

Introduction

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A critical review of the correlative effect of process parameters on pyrolysis of plastic wastes - ScienceDirect 10/01/24, 1:24 p.m.

Plastics have become undisputable commodities because of their durability, strength, mouldability and versatility in
every field. However, post-application, improper plastic waste management (PWM) causes several critical
environmental concerns [11]. The harmful chemicals in plastic waste leach into the soil from inadequately managed
landfills, polluting the surface and groundwater [46]. These artificially designed materials break down into
microplastics, causing disturbances in the equilibrium of air, land and aquatic ecosystems [83]. Further, these
microplastics enter the aquatic ecosystem causing irreparable damage to living organisms and the marine
environment. Also, recent studies on atmospheric microplastic pollution suggest that these particles in the air cause
grave danger to human, environmental and climatic health [26].

Several treaties and agreements have been signed among nations and continents to restrict the overuse of plastics, ban
its entry into ecosystems and confront the crisis of plastic pollution from different angles over the last decade [48]. In
2022, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) adopted a global treaty involving 175 countries, with the primary
goal of developing circular economies, targeting to tackle the entire life cycle of plastics and thus infringing the
sovereignty of single-use plastics [34]. This deal, considered one of the most ambitious and most significantly
multilateral by the policy creators, has compelled most of the countries to shift their focus towards the implementation
of various industrial norms, such as to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels by maintaining materials inflow by
recycling and reuse and thus putting an end to the delineated pollutions [35]. The conversion of a linear system to a
circular one cuts off the waste products stream by its conversion into energy or modifies it into valuable products or
components that can be used to manufacture the top products, as depicted in Fig. 1.

The current PWM system in most Asian countries is severely linear and comprises discarding or landfilling about 72
per cent of the total plastic waste collected [33]. In contrast, only a meagre 14 per cent of each is taken up to recycling
and incineration [30]. Fig. 2 represents the doughnut chart depicting plastic waste management methods in significant
plastic waste-producing countries (China, India and Singapore) in the Asian region. Although the distinction between
discarding and landfilling plastic waste is not very explicit, it is to be noted that these are the two most widely used
disposal methods for plastic waste [57]. Most of the plastic wastes handled by these methods enter the air, aquatic, and
land ecosystems in various ways, causing harmful effects on living organisms. The energy recovery and transformation
processes, recycling of used plastics and incineration are not implemented to the desired level for various reasons
(Tripathi et al. [99]). The process economics, low value for recycled products, limitations posed by mixed and multi-
layered plastics, their heterogeneous chemical structures and make-up, and the physiochemical properties and
behaviour of the process restricts the application of plastic recovery and transformation processes [13]. However, it is
indispensable to analyse the different types of plastic wastes, their sources, effects and properties before examining the
process and methods of disposal, which is discussed in the next section [70].

Section snippets

Various types of plastic wastes

All plastic considered waste has thousands of monomers with connected covalent bonds. It comes under any one of the
following types: Polyethylene- High-Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE), Low-Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE), Poly Propylene
(PP), Poly Ethylene Tetra phthalate (PET), Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), Poly Styrene (PS), Poly Urethane (PU), and Poly
Carbonate (PC) [5], [87]. Though these polymers are obtained from petrochemical products or conventional fossil fuels,

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A critical review of the correlative effect of process parameters on pyrolysis of plastic wastes - ScienceDirect 10/01/24, 1:24 p.m.

like coal and oil, the physical …

Requirements for the study

Aiming to conclude the gap that exists between the literature works and the commercialisation of pyrolysis as a
reliable route for liquid fuel production, a detailed analysis of the operational parameters is required to obtain clarity
on the process points such as the versatility, efficiency, and scalability of the pyrolysis process (Tripathi et al. [99]).
Thermochemical conversion technologies involve multiple complex reactions with various parameters influencing the
outcome, rendering the…

Review focus, scope and novelty

This review is based on the existing literature for pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis of plastic waste, which focuses on
establishing a correlation between the operational parameters and oil yield. Particular emphasis has been given to
critical factors like feedstock characteristics, reaction temperature, reaction time etc., which are studied in depth. The
potential usage of plastic waste as feedstock in pyrolysis for profitable and sustainable bio-oil production can be
achieved by evolving tactics,…

Data procurement

To provide an introspect on the effects of various critical parameters on the pyrolysis technique, an extensive dataset
from previously published research works consisting of characteristics of plastic waste, pyrolysis process parameters,
and liquid product yield was formed [34]. The plastic waste characteristics considered in this study are the percentages
of Carbon (C%), Hydrogen (H%), Nitrogen (N%), Oxygen (O%), Sulphur (S%), Moisture (M%), and particle size (PS in mm).
Similarly, the…

Factors/parameters considered

Though this waste-to-energy technology (WtE) is existentially implemented, it is essential to consider the monetary
obligation and unfavourable impact of the process on the environment due to its scientific and technical requisites [76].
Also, to holistically recognise any process concerning its economic, environmental and energy efficiency, it is
imperative to thoroughly study, analyse and understand the parameters that drive the whole system. Thus, the
pyrolysis process depends on a series of …

Statistical trend analysis

The correlative trend between the input variables and the output response is significant in understanding their
interaction [117]. The significant implication of this study is to study the input factors, such as the feed characteristics
and process operative parameters, concerning the quantitative yield of bio-oil in the previous experiments [91]. Fig. 4,
Fig. 5 show the overall statistical trend of various feed and process parameters analysed for pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis
of plastic waste,…

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A critical review of the correlative effect of process parameters on pyrolysis of plastic wastes - ScienceDirect 10/01/24, 1:24 p.m.

Correlation between variables

It is essential to understand the correlation between variables and their effect on the overall yield of the process [10]. A
total of 10 and 11 parameters for pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis processes were analysed and ranked based on their
statistical influence on the desired yield [79]. Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show the Pearson correlation matrix between various
variables for pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis processes, respectively. At the same time, Table 4 and Table 5 provided the
values of the Pearson…

Conclusion

The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) methodology helps develop the correlative trend between the input variables
(feed and process) and their respective output response (oil yield %) and classify them as positive or negative. Analysing
and understanding the correlation between the variables statistically helps in comprehending its contribution and
significance to the overall pyrolysis process and developing a ranking system using its quantification that aids us in a
priority-based…

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.…

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