Plastic waste upgrade to olefins via mild slurry microwave pyrolysis over solid acids

Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analyses of Thermochemical Upcycling Technologies of Low-Density Polyethylene Waste

“…Another alternative is to reduce emissions in heat production. Carbon capture technologies can be used by maintaining conventional heating, but the substitution of heat by electricity-based heating (e.g., electric boilers or furnaces) or reactors supplied with electricity such as microwaves is crucial to exploit. Electrification can be powerful in all depolymerization technologies reducing emissions from 0.2 kgCO 2 /kg LDPE up to 1.2 kgCO 2 /kg LDPE in more emission intensive processes like HTL and gasification.…”

“…Although the product can be controlled by a catalyst, − temperature , and reactor type (e.g., fluidized beds, spouted beds or microwave reactors , ), it is typically composed of alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics with a wide range of molecular weights. Among them, olefins and aromatics are the most valuable; aromatics are rarely higher than 10% and only over specific catalysts the selectivity can reach 60%. , Olefins are produced in a higher percent and be isomerized to α-olefins to produce eventually final products such as surfactants, lubricants, and aldehydes.…”

Economic and Environmental Benefits of Modular Microwave-Assisted Polyethylene Terephthalate Depolymerization

“…85 The effects of varied microwave reactor costs are shown in the sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, introducing foams/monoliths of suitable dielectric materials, 86 which have superior penetration and heat transfer capabilities, and smaller-scale modular operation 87 can further assist with scale-up.…”

Guanidine functionalized porous SiO2 as heterogeneous catalysts for microwave depolymerization of PET and PLA

“…The use of microwave assisted depolymerization of plastics has also received a lot of interest due to the significant reduction in reaction time and energy consumption, improving the energy efficiency for various reactions such as the glycolysis of PET 22,23 and polyurethane 24 and hydrolysis of polyamides 25 and polyolefins. 26 Microwave assisted reactions enable rapid volumetric heating and uniform heat transfer resulting in increased reaction rates and product selectivity and increased yields compared to conventional thermal methods. 27 The most common catalysts reported for microwave assisted glycolysis of PET are metal salts and metal oxides, and the possibility of combining microwave assisted heating with a heterogeneous metal-free catalyst is a highly attractive depolymerization route for PET.…”