Optimizing hydrocarbon yield from co-pyrolysis of Agave sisalana bagasse and multilayer plastic film wastes for sustainable fuel production using simplex-centroid mixture design and principal component analysis

The production of alternative fuels to replace fossil-derived products constitutes a significant research topic, given the need for sustainable solutions that support energy transition and decarbonization of the transport sector. In this context, this pioneering study investigates the co-pyrolysis of Agave sisalana (sisal) bagasse with two types of multilayer plastic waste: polyethylene film with an aluminum barrier (PFA) and polyethylene film with an ethylene-vinyl alcohol barrier (PFE). The experiments were conducted in a micro-pyrolyzer coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), using a simplex centroid mixture design to optimize compositions and principal component analysis (PCA) to interpret the data. While the isolated pyrolysis of sisal bagasse resulted in 58.78 % oxygenated compounds, co-pyrolysis with 50 % PFA provided a maximum yield of 91.39 % aliphatic hydrocarbons, representing a 2.97-fold increase compared to the pyrolysis of the isolated residue. PFA demonstrated a superior synergistic effect to PFE when combined with sisal bagasse. The results indicate that this combination can produce hydrocarbon-rich pyrolytic oil, significantly contributing to sustainable waste management and advancing the “waste-to-energy” concept by converting residual materials into alternative transportation fuels.