Kinetics of Microwave Co-Pyrolysis of Palm Oil Industry Solid Waste and Polyethylene Terephthalate Waste

Abstract

Comparison of co-pyrolysis kinetics of palm oil solid waste (shell and fiber) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste has been performed in a microwave thermogravimetric analyzer. The ratio of biomass (shell or fiber) with PET was varied at 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100. All variations used 50 % of material absorber from the overall sample mass. The results showed that the addition of PET to the oil?palm shell and fiber affects maximum temperature, heating rate, average mass-loss rate, and activation energy. In shell – PET mixture compositions of 75:25, 50:50, and 25:75, maximum temperature decreased 22.47%, 30.80%, and 34.46%, heating rate decreased by 11.78%, 32.60% and 42.69%, average mass-loss rate decreased by 1.62%, 7.25%, and 13.38% than pure shell. In fiber – PET mixture compositions of 75:25, 50:50, and 25:75, maximum temperature decreased 27.50%, 32.22%, and 37.33%, heating rate decreased by 29.60%, 34.03%, and 53.94%, the average mass-loss rate decreased by 21.35%, 37.88% and 39.36% than the pure fiber. Both pure biomasses have the lowest value of activation energy compared to other test variations. Co-pyrolysis of a mixture of palm oil industry solid waste and PET waste showed a synergistic effect when biomass and PET are mixed. It suggests that microwave co-pyrolysis is a promising method for biomass and plastic waste processing.