Dataset Information

Pyrolysis of COVID-19 disposable masks and catalytic cracking of the volatiles.

ABSTRACT: The disposable masks generated in the battle against COVID-19 has attracted wide attention in the world. Pyrolysis can convert the masks into useful chemicals and fuels. In this work, the masks are pyrolyzed at temperatures of 400-580 °C and the volatiles generated are cracked without or with catalysts at 440-580 °C. The catalysts used include metal oxides (Al₂O₃, kaolin, Fe₂O₃, CeO₂, TiO₂) and molecular sieves (HZSM5, HY, β(25H), β(60H)). The yields and composition of gas and liquid products are studied in detail where the tetrahydrofuran (THF) soluble compounds are defined as the liquid product and the n-hexane soluble compounds are defined as the oil. The liquid product and the oil were identified by GC-MS and quantified by GC. Results indicate that 440 °C is sufficient for the masks' pyrolysis and the yields of gas, liquid product and oil are 23.4, 74.7 and 42.1 wt%, respectively. About 30% of the liquid product are C₆-C₃₅ hydrocarbons while about 70% are C₃₆-C₇₀ hydrocarbons trapped in the GC column (termed as column residue). The gas products are mainly C₅, propylene and butene, accounting for 54.8%, 22.8% and 14.5% of the total gas product, respectively. Cracking of volatiles over various catalysts converts the liquid product mainly to propylene, butene and smaller organic gases. TiO₂, HY and β(60H) are good catalysts, especially β(60H), which increases the yield of gas product to 86.5 wt% with 73.0% being ethylene, propylene and butene at 580 °C.

SUBMITTER: Sun X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9754623 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Pyrolysis of COVID-19 disposable masks and catalytic cracking of the volatiles.

Sun Xuli X Liu Zhenyu Z Shi Lei L Liu Qingya Q

Journal of analytical and applied pyrolysis 20220224

The disposable masks generated in the battle against COVID-19 has attracted wide attention in the world. Pyrolysis can convert the masks into useful chemicals and fuels. In this work, the masks are pyrolyzed at temperatures of 400-580 °C and the volatiles generated are cracked without or with catalysts at 440-580 °C. The catalysts used include metal oxides (Al2O3, kaolin, Fe2O3, CeO2, TiO2) and molecular sieves (HZSM5, HY, β(25H), ...[more]

PMID: 36540305

Similar Datasets

Project description:During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world saw an exponential surge in the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, which eventually got discarded in the biomedical waste stream. In this study, thirteen different polymer samples from the PPE kit were collected and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, thermogravimetric analysis, and analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry. The characterization data showed that about 94 % by mass of components were made of only three polymers, viz. polypropylene (PP, 75.6 wt %), polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 12.5 wt %), and polycarbonate (PC, 6 wt %). The analytical pyrolysis of the PPE coverall suit (PP) yielded mainly alkenes containing 2,4-dimethyl-1-heptene as the major compound with 17 wt % yield at 600 °C. The pyrolysates from face shield (PET) were rich in benzoic acid (5.8 wt %) and acetophenone (4.8 wt %), while those from safety goggles (PC) were rich in phenol (17.6 wt %) and p-cresol (12.4 wt %) at 600 °C. HZSM-5 and HY zeolites were used for the catalytic upgradation of pyrolysates especially from PP, PET and PC. The temperature and feed-to-catalyst ratio were optimized by performing catalytic fast pyrolysis experiments at 500 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C with different feed-to-catalyst ratios 1:2, 1:4, and 1:6 (w/w). The yield of aromatic hydrocarbons, viz., BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) and naphthalene, was maximum (∼25.7 wt %) from PP coverall when HY catalyst was used at 600 °C and 1:6 (w/w) loading. In the case of PET face shield, the total yield of BTEX, naphthalene and biphenyl was maximum (27.9 wt %) at 600 °C and 1:4 (w/w) of HZSM-5, while in the case of PC goggles, it was maximum (18.6 wt %) at 700 °C and 1:4 (w/w) of HY. This study shows that the entire PPE kit can be valorized via catalytic fast pyrolysis to generate petrochemical products and platform molecules like monoaromatic hydrocarbons at high selectivities.

Dataset Information

Pyrolysis of COVID-19 disposable masks and catalytic cracking of the volatiles.

Publications

Pyrolysis of COVID-19 disposable masks and catalytic cracking of the volatiles.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets