Use of plastic waste as a fuel in the co-pyrolysis of biomass: Part II. Variance analysis of the co-pyrolysis process

The aim of our study described in this article was statistical evaluation of the influence of process conditions on the chemical and physical properties of products obtained from biomass and plastic waste co-pyrolysis. To estimate the effects of the process conditions on the chemical and physical properties of products, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. Furthermore, a mathematical equation that can be used to determine the degree of change in chemical and physical properties of the solid, liquid and gaseous products from co-pyrolysis depending on process conditions is presented in this article. In investigation were used alder wood (hardwood) and pine wood (softwood) with polypropylene addition which were carbonized in various thermal conditions. In the presented studied was described significant effect among char, liquid and gaseous fraction properties according to polymer addition. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) employed to exploratory analysis shows that the type of material has the most significant effect on the nitrogen concentration in the char, the nitrogen and sulphur concentration in the liquid fraction and the carbon mono- and dioxide, methane concentration in gaseous fraction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.