Thermal and catalytic degradation of municipal waste plastics into fuel oil

We propose here a new catalytic process for the degradation of municipal waste plastics into fuel in a glass reactor. The degradation of plastics was carried out at atmospheric pressure and 410°C in batch and continuous feed operation. The waste plastics and simulated mixed plastics are composed of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and poly(ethyleneterephthalate) (PET). Both the municipal waste plastics and simulated mixed plastics yielded 35 wt. % of liquid products and 12 wt % of gaseous products. The PVC and PET polymers in the waste plastic produced a large amount of solid residues. The liquid products have a carbon number distribution equivalent to normal paraffins C₅ to C₁₅ which corresponds to the boiling point range-0.5°C to 271°C. The degradation rate and yield of oil recovery promoted by the use of silica-alumina catalysts are compared with the non-catalytic thermal degradation.