T his research studies the effect of operating temperature and particle size on the yield of liquid products fr om the pyrolysis process of expanded polystyrene (EPS) waste. For the experiment, the EPS samples were collected, washed and crush e d, likewise a pretreatment was carried out in which the residues wer e heated at 150 °C for 10 min to reduce their volume, preserving the initial mass. T he pretreated sample was ground and sieved into t wo different particle sizes (0-5 and 5-10 mm). For the experiments, a horizontal tubular reactor was used, which operated at a pressure of 34.66 kPa for 3 hours and at a heating rate of 10 ºC/min. Pyrolysis was carried out at temperatures of 400, 450, 500 and 550°C, varying with the two particle sizes indicated above. It was determined that the operating temperature and particle size have a direct effect on the performance of liquid products. Likewise, the operating conditions that maximize the yield of liquid products were the temperature of 550 °C and the particle size of 5-10 mm, obtaining a yield of liquid products of 97.8%, gaseous products of 1.2% an d solid products of 1.0%.
This research seeks to optimize and characterize the liquid product obtained from the waste expanded polystyrene (EPS) pyrolysis. Statistical analysis of the experimental results of EPS pyrolysis was developed. A maximum yield of the liquid product was obtained at a temperature of 550 °C and an average particle size of 7.5 mm. Likewise, the total sulfur content, ASTM distillation, API Gravity and density were determined for the liquid product obtained under optimal conditions. Other physicochemical properties were estimated, concluding that the liquid product is similar to synthetic crude.
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