Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of plastic waste for liquid oil production

In this work, the article presents the results of the production of fuel oil from plastic waste using microwave-assisted pyrolysis. Under the influence of microwave power, microwave absorption material, time, catalyst, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and mixture (34% PE + 33% PP + 33 wt% PS) were pyrolyzed to liquid oil. The results showed that with 500 g of raw plastic, 500 W microwave power, and 120 minutes, the carbon absorber accounted for 10 wt% (compared to plastic), catalysts accounted for 20 wt%, fuel efficiency reached 84% with PS and PP, 83% with PE, and 83.5% with mixed plastics. The oil obtained qualified the standards of FO No. 1 TCVN 6239:2019. The gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy GC/MS analysis (GC-MS) showed that the composition of the pyrolysis oil is mainly hydrocarbon from C7-C12.