Research on co-gasification of polyethylene and cellulose via reactive molecular dynamics simulation

YH Pang and XL Zhu and YB Sun and N Li and ZB Wang, JOURNAL OF THE ENERGY INSTITUTE, 111, 101382 (2023).

DOI: 10.1016/j.joei.2023.101382

Co-gasification of waste plastic and biomass is an effective way for waste disposal and renewable energy utilization. In this paper, the co- gasification of polyethylene and cellulose was explored. The reaction mechanism and thermochemical characteristics of co-gasification were comprehensively analyzed. Results showed that the co gasification reduced the initial decomposition temperature of polyethylene but delayed its later decomposition, and also delayed the decomposition of cellulose. Polyethylene acted as a hydrogen donor in co-gasification to provided free radicals conductive to hydrogen and hydrocarbon generation. Cellulose as an oxygenated compound contributed to CO production. Compared with the separate gasification of cellulose, the separate gasification of polyethylene and the co-gasification of the two produced more hydrogen and hydrocarbons but less CO. The synergistic effect of co-gasification increased the lower heating value of gas product and carbon conversion rate and reduced the activation energy, but decreased the combustible gas yield. The gas product composition of co-gasification could be regulated by adjusting the blending ratio. This work sheds lights on the co-gasification characteristics of polyethylene and biomass, which would be helpful for the application of this technology to produce high-quality syngas.

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