Synergistic effect of the co-pyrolysis of cardboard and polyethylene: A kinetic and thermodynamic study

Pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW) represents one of the most promising solutions to recycle materials and recover energy. Two of the main components of MSW are waste cardboard and plastic. In this study, the pyrolysis of cardboard and polyethylene (PE) and the co-pyrolysis of their mixtures were conducted to investigate the synergistic effect by using thermogravimetric analysis. The whole reaction process was divided into four pseudoreactions, namely, hemicellulose, lignin, cellulose, and PE, by using the Frazer-Suzuki deconvolution method. It was found that the co-pyrolysis of cardboard and PE could promote the decomposition degrees of cardboard from 70.28% to 75.31%, when the PE fraction increased from 0 to 75%. However, the presence of cardboard can hinder the heat adsorption of PE, which shifts the peak of the PE reaction to a higher temperature. This results in higher E-a and Delta H double dagger values for PE pyrolysis with an increasing fraction of cardboard. On the other hand, the E-a and Delta H double dagger values of cellulose pyrolysis have their lowest values when the mixing rate is around 50%. This research deepens the understanding of the synergistic effect of co-pyrolysis of cardboard and PE, which supports the potential application of pyrolysis of MSW. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.