Effect of polypropylene on characteristics of gas products from biomass gasification

This study explored the influence of polypropylene (PP) on the composition and characteristics of gas products generated from biomass gasification. The co-gasification of PP and biomass is presented as an effective solution for recycling solid waste while optimizing gas production. Biomass gasification, a promising technology for sustainable energy production, often faces challenges in achieving gas quality. Adding plastic waste, such as PP, offers a potential route to optimize the process and gas products. In this work, a chemical reaction kinetic model was developed with ten reactor units in Aspen Plus to simulate the co-gasification process of PP and biomass, and the compositions of gas products were analyzed, such as hydrogen (H 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH 4 ), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and so on. Several factors affecting their characteristics were discussed, including PP mass fraction (X pp ), the oxygen equivalence ratio (ER), and gasification temperature (T). The results showed that the inclusion of PP significantly enhanced the volume fractions of CH 4 and bio-hydrane alkane, and improved lower heating value (LHV), carbon conversion rate and gasification efficiency. The H 2 volume fraction increased with T, reaching a peak of 47.6 % at an ER of 0.25 and X PP of 0.41 under 1000°C. The CO volume fraction also increased with T, with peak values ranging from 52.3 % to 53.9 % at an ER between 0.1 and 0.2 under 1000°C and an X PP of 0.09. CH 4 and bio-hydrane alkane reached maximum volume fractions of 56.9 % at an ER of 0.1 and an X PP of 0.8. The syngas volume fraction reached up to 98.7 % within an ER range of 0.2–0.25 and an X PP range of 0.23–0.41 at 1000°C. LHV for bio-gas reached a peak of 25.85 MJ/m³ at an ER of 0.25 and X pp of 0.8 under 800°C. CO₂ emissions declined with increasing T and X pp and decreasing ER. These results proved that integrating plastic waste into the gasification process may serve as a sustainable strategy for optimizing biomass conversion, enhancing gas quality and reducing CO 2 emissions.