Title : Waste plastic upcycling via solvothermolysis: A pathway to bio-oil and carbon-rich solid production
Abstract:
The rapid increase in plastic consumption and waste generation has emerged as a critical environmental issue, affecting all forms of life. Consequently, growing research efforts are being directed toward converting waste plastics into valuable resources. One promising approach is the solvothermal conversion of waste plastics into liquid fuels and solid carbon using an autoclave reactor. The yields of bio-oil and solid carbon are influenced by factors such as solvent type, reaction temperature, and time. This study explores the effects of temperature (250 °C and 300 °C) and varying reaction times–both short (15 – 45 min) and long (3 – 9 h)–on the recovery of solid carbon using kerosene as the solvent. Similarly, bio-oil production was investigated under temperatures ranging from 150 °C to 300 °C and reaction times between 15 to 45 min. After 3 h, solid carbon contents of 25.21% and 23.39% were obtained at 250 °C and 300 °C, respectively. The highest solid carbon percentages of 34.80% and 30.50% were recovered at 250 °C after 15 min and 5 h, respectively. For bio-oil production, a maximum yield of 42 – 45% and conversion of 66 – 68% were achieved at 275 °C after 45 min. The higher heating values (HHVs) of the oil samples, between 45.48 – 45.81 MJ/kg, were significantly higher than that of gasoline (43.4 MJ/kg). Overall, this work demonstrates the feasibility of an efficient and scalable method for upcycling waste plastics into value-added liquid fuels and solid carbon.
Keywords: Liquid fuels, Carbon, Kerosene, Solvothermolysis, Upcycling, Waste plastic
