Critical Evaluation of Life Cycle Assessment Analyses of Plastic Waste Pyrolysis

Costa, Luiz A. A.; Miranda, Débora Micheline Vaz de; Pinto, José Carlos

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c00265

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…The energy efficiency of this vapor-phase hydrotreatment process was 94% when fuel gas is sold and electricity for hydrogen generation was provided by the national grid, which was higher than that reported by previous works. 39,40 The high energy efficiency was mainly ascribed to the vapor-phase hydrotreatment process compared with that of the conventional two-step pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading route. More specifically, for typical pyrolysis and subsequent catalytic upgrading, the primary pyrolytic products obtained from pyrolysis were firstly condensed for collection, and then the raw liquid products were heated (∼300 °C) in another reactor to perform the catalytic upgrading.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment

et al. 2022

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment

et al. 2022

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“…Pyrolysis is recognized as the most fundamental approach for producing fuels and chemicals among polymers’ numerous chemical recycling routes . However, the majority of pyrolysis research is conducted in batch reactors at the laboratory scale, which is yet to be extrapolated to the industrial scale . Also, the practical application of bio-oil produced from pyrolysis is yet to be discovered .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Outlook on Lignocellulosic Biomass and Plastics Co-Gasification: A Mini-Review

2022

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The generation of solid waste and lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) residues and their environmentally responsible disposal have emerged as major global challenges. A major part (around 12%) of solid waste is plastic, and the increased accumulation has become a serious public health and environmental hazard. For the combined management of residual LCB biomass and plastic waste, thermochemical conversion, particularly gasification, appears to be a potential alternative. Gasification is a process that turns high carbon-containing solid feedstocks into a combustible gas mixture known as syngas or producer gas based on the gasifying agent. Co-gasification (the gasification of two distinct feedstocks) has the potential to facilitate eco-friendly plastic waste disposal while also contributing to the production of green energy. The literature on the co-gasification of LCB and plastic waste is reviewed in the current study. These are mostly experimental studies on biomass and plastics carried out in various reactors with multiple gasifying mediums. The synergistic effects of various feedstock compositions and attributes are examined during co-gasification using experimental studies and reactor-level modeling. The impacts of operating parameters on the gas yield, tar formation, and gasifier performance are also analyzed. Finally, the challenges, research gaps, and the way toward commercialization in the context of co-gasification of various combinations of LCB and plastics are presented.

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“…Although existing LCA guidelines attempt to overcome possible methodological inconsistencies, there is still ample room for interpretation of results. [ 49 ] Moreover, the analyst must select some among a large number of alternatives during the initial LCA modeling stages, which can make the replication of outcomes more difficult, and demand extra attention to provide consistent and transparent results. [ 49–51 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of the Catalytic Pyrolysis of High‐Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and High‐Impact Polystyrene (HIPS)

Monteiro

Miranda

Pinto

et al. 2022

Macro Reaction Engineering

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Pollution by plastics constitutes an urgent problem that demands immediate actions, including development of efficient polymer recycling technologies. In this scenario, the catalytic degradation of plastic wastes constitutes a promising technology, as suitable catalysts can be used to perform cracking reactions and controlled plastic degradation, yielding high quality end products. Catalyst investments are expected to be recovered by benefits related to reduction of reaction temperature and time and by manufacture of higher valued products. However, proper environmental assessment of catalyst usage has yet to be performed in most plastics chemical recycling processes. For these reasons, in the present study, life cycle assessment (LCA) based on system expansion methodologies is carried out to determine the environmental impacts of catalytic pyrolysis transformations of high‐impact polystyrene (HIPS) and high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) using zeolite H‐USY (ultrastable Y) and SO4/SnO2 catalysts, respectively, based on actual collected experimental data to represent conversions and yields. Surprisingly, the obtained results indicate that the use of catalysts for plastic waste degradation reactions can be environmentally disadvantageous sometimes, depending on the blend of obtained products. Therefore, the environmental impact of catalysts on plastics chemical recycling should be carefully assessed to avoid problems derived from positive bias, which assumes that the catalytic process is necessarily better than the noncatalytic counterpart. However, the positive impacts of styrene and olefins recovery can indeed contribute with positive environmental performances of both catalytic and non‐catalytic processes, particularly regarding global warming, acidification, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, and ozone layer depletion.

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Critical Evaluation of Life Cycle Assessment Analyses of Plastic Waste Pyrolysis

Cited by 21 publications

References 88 publications

Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment

Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment

A Critical Outlook on Lignocellulosic Biomass and Plastics Co-Gasification: A Mini-Review

Life Cycle Assessment of the Catalytic Pyrolysis of High‐Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and High‐Impact Polystyrene (HIPS)

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