Khatibi, M., Nahil, M.A. and Williams, P.T. orcid.org/0000-0003-0401-9326 (2023) Improving the Quality of Bio-oil Using the Interaction of Plastics and Biomass through Copyrolysis Coupled with Nonthermal Plasma Processing. Energy & Fuels, 38 (2). pp. 1240-1257. ISSN 0887-0624
Abstract
Bio-oil produced from the pyrolysis of biomass is chemically complex, viscous, highly acidic, and highly oxygenated. Copyrolysis of biomass and plastics can enhance oil quality by raising the H/C ratio, leading to improved biofuel properties. In this work, copyrolysis of polystyrene and biomass was passed to a second-stage dielectric barrier discharge nonthermal plasma reactor with the aim to further improve the product bio-oil. Pyrolysis of the polystyrene and biomass produces volatiles that pass to the second stage to undergo cracking and autohydrogenation reactions under nonthermal plasma conditions. There was a synergistic interaction between biomass and polystyrene in terms of overall oil and gas yield and composition even in the absence of the nonthermal plasma. However, the introduction of the nonthermal plasma produced a marked increase in monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., ethylbenzene), whereas polycyclic aromatic compounds decreased in concentration. Most notably, the influence of the plasma markedly reduced the quantity of oxygenated compounds in the product oil. It is suggested that the unique reactive environment produced by the plasma involving high-energy electrons, excited radicals, ions, and intermediates increases the interaction of the polystyrene and biomass pyrolysis volatiles. Increasing input plasma power from 50 to 70 W further enhanced the effects of the nonthermal plasma.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under CC-BY 4.0. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Jan 2024 16:07 |
Last Modified: | 22 Mar 2024 10:17 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.3c04082 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:208250 |