Co-pyrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch and oil palm frond with low-density polyethylene and polypropylene for bio-oil production

Co-pyrolysis of palm wastes of empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm frond (PF) with low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) were investigated to find the synergistic effect of biomass-plastic pair on the yield and composition of bio-oil produced. The pyrolysis process of individual materials and their corresponding blends were employed in a fixed bed reactor at heating rate of 20 degrees C/min with a nitrogen flow rate of 250 mL/min. The co-pyrolysis results showed that EFB:LDPE with weight ratio of 1:1 has the largest synergy on bio-oil yield, while a negative synergy was revealed for PF:PP co-pyrolysis. In regard of bio-oil chemical composition, the synergistic effect was positive for the formation of aliphatic hydrocarbons and all feedstock decreased the overall oxygenated compounds of fuel substitute. The hydrogen generated from plastic promoted the decarboxylation of acids and decarbonylation reactions of carbonyls and sugars. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Co-pyrolysis of palm wastes with plastics can increase bio-oil yield, with different effects on the chemical composition depending on the types of waste and plastic used.