Solvothermal co-liquefaction of sugarcane bagasse and polyethylene under sub-supercritical conditions: Optimization of process parameters

• Published in: Process safety and environmental protection Vol. 137; pp. 300 - 311
• Main Authors: Baloch, Humair Ahmed, Siddiqui, M.T.H., Nizamuddin, Sabzoi, Mubarak, N.M., Khalid, Mohammad, Srinivasan, M.P., Griffin, G.J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rugby Elsevier B.V 01.05.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Bagasse; Biomass; Calorific value; Chemical analysis; Chemical composition; Co-liquefaction; Conversion; Ethanol; High density polyethylene; High density polyethylenes; Independent variables; Liquefaction; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Optimization; Polyethylene; Process parameters; Reaction time; Sub/super critical fluid; Sugarcane; Taguchi methods; Thermogravimetric analysis; Waste plastics; Yield; Co-liquefaction; Waste plastics; Sub/super critical fluid; High density polyethylene; Optimization
• ISSN: 0957-5820; 1744-3598
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2020.01.018

[Display omitted] •Co-conversion of polyethylene and sugarcane bagasse was studied.•The operating process parameters were optimized using taguchi method.•A maximum of 60.0 % conversion and 32.3wt% bio-oil yield was obtained at optimum process parameters.•Co-liquefaction decreased bio-crude oil yield but increased its quality. The co-liquefaction of mixtures of sugarcane bagasse and high density polyethylene (HDPE) in ethanol under subcritical and super-critical conditions was studied with the objective of finding optimal process conditions for bio-oil yield and overall conversion. Taguchi method was employed to design with 9 experiments to find the effect of 4 independent variables (temperature, reaction time, biomass to plastic composition and solvent-to-biomass ratio) on the co-liquefaction of plastic and biomass for total conversion and bio-oil yield. The optimal results showed 60 % conversion with bio-oil yield 32.3 % having HHV of bio-oil 29.6MJ/kg respectively. The predicted model indicated a good fit with that of experimental data. Furthermore, detailed characterizations of bio-oils were carried out such as higher heating value (HHV), chemical composition, NMR analysis, elemental analysis, FTIR and thermogravimetric analysis. The co-liquefaction of sugarcane bagasse and polyethylene was found effective to improve the qualitative and quantitate features of products from the biomass.