Styrene recovery from polystyrene by flash pyrolysis in a conical spouted bed reactor

Maite Artetxe; Gartzen Lopez; Maider Amutio; Itsaso Barbarias; Aitor Arregi; Roberto Aguado; Javier Bilbao; Martin Olazar

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.05.034

Styrene recovery from polystyrene by flash pyrolysis in a conical spouted bed reactor

Waste Manag. 2015 Nov:45:126-33. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.05.034. Epub 2015 Jun 13.

Authors

Maite Artetxe¹, Gartzen Lopez¹, Maider Amutio¹, Itsaso Barbarias¹, Aitor Arregi¹, Roberto Aguado¹, Javier Bilbao¹, Martin Olazar²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E48080 Bilbao, Spain.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E48080 Bilbao, Spain. Electronic address: martin.olazar@ehu.es.es.

PMID: 26077230
DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.05.034

Abstract

Continuous pyrolysis of polystyrene has been studied in a conical spouted bed reactor with the main aim of enhancing styrene monomer recovery. Thermal degradation in a thermogravimetric analyser was conducted as a preliminary study in order to apply this information in the pyrolysis in the conical spouted bed reactor. The effects of temperature and gas flow rate in the conical spouted bed reactor on product yield and composition have been determined in the 450-600°C range by using a spouting velocity from 1.25 to 3.5 times the minimum one. Styrene yield is strongly influenced by both temperature and gas flow rate, with the maximum yield being 70.6 wt% at 500°C and a gas velocity twice the minimum one.

Keywords: Conical spouted bed reactor; Polystyrene; Pyrolysis; Styrene; Thermogravimetry; Waste plastic.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Hot Temperature
Polystyrenes / chemistry*
Recycling / methods*
Solid Waste / analysis*
Waste Management / methods*

Substances

Polystyrenes
Solid Waste