Arduino Controlled Catalytic Pyrolysis of Plastic/Municipal Waste to Higher Hydrocarbons

Worldwide, the broad usage of plastic has resulted in the massive production of plastic pollution. In this work, it was demonstrated that municipal plastic waste could be converted into valuable liquid products. This study shows the catalytic and non -catalytic pyrolysis of low -density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and high -density polyethylene (HDPE). Pyrolysis was carried out in the absence of Oxygen, and three types of fractions: gas, liquid, and solid residues were obtained. The proportions of liquid or gas residue depend on the operating conditions such as temperature and the type of catalyst. The product obtained was then characterized through ASTM D97, ASTM D-86, ASTM D-4294, Cloud Point, Conradson Carbon Residue, FTIR Analysis, ASTM D-611, Density and Specific Gravity. The use of catalysts showed more quantity of lower boiling points products due to further cracking of carbon chains and pour points decrease was also observed generally with the use of catalyst specially by using bentonite. A decrease in Pour Point indicated a decrease in paraffin content, therefore, reducing wax content, and so it indicated better flow properties at lower temperatures. Pour point and viscosity observed were interconnected with each other, sample having high pour points had high viscosity, hence showing the flowing ability of the liquid. Also, the Sulphur contents of all the samples falling under Euro II and Euro II category. C -S-tretching, C=S-tretching and C -B ending bonds were noted using the FTIR analysis. One of the important purposes of this study was to convert the waxes obtained from thermal pyrolysis of HDPE and LDPE to higher chain hydrocarbons, which was achieved by using bentonite as the catalyst and also flowing properties of the liquid improved by using the catalyst. HDPE with bentonite gave the highest percent of liquid fuel (75.15%) obtained which in turn shows the best result obtained through all our experiments.