Co-pyrolysis of adhesive waste and pine sawdust for resource recovery

Abstract

The rapid increase in global waste generation, driven by factors like population growth and urbanization, has created significant challenges in waste management. This situation highlights the urgent need for sustainable waste management strategies focused on resource recovery. Concurrently, the rising use of adhesives, linked to improved living standards, has contributed to adhesive waste, complicating transportation and cleaning due to its high viscosity. To address this issue, incorporating biomass into adhesive waste can effectively lower its viscosity, facilitating the management of large amounts of waste. This study explores the viability of co-processing adhesive waste with pine sawdust through pyrolysis under various conditions like temperatures, heating rates, and mixing ratios, analyzing their co-pyrolysis characteristics. The results of this study indicated that temperature influences the composition of pyrolysis oil, favoring the formation of olefins and cycloolefins. Higher heating rates aid in adhesive waste depolymerization, increasing gas production while reducing pyrolysis oil output and enhancing olefin and cycloolefin proportions. Key compounds in the pyrolysis oil including C₇H₈, C₈H₁₀, and C₈H₁₂, exhibit diverse responses to temperature changes, with C₇H₈ decreasing and C₈H₁₀ and C₈H₁₂, initially increasing and then decreasing, suggesting that optimal temperature levels enhance product purity. Moreover, adjusting the pine sawdust content affects the activation energy for pyrolysis, impacting pyrolysis residue and gas generation. An appropriate mixing ratio can enhance adhesive waste pyrolysis and promote the re-polymerization of pyrolysis products. These findings highlight the importance of optimizing co-pyrolysis conditions to boost bio-oil yield and quality, facilitating efficient adhesive waste processing by mitigating viscosity issues.