Analysis of the emission of PAH in the thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of polystyrene

Abstract

In Argentina, a large part of plastic products ends their life cycle in the garbage. Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis has been presented as a technological alternative to reduce the environmental impact of plastic polymers. In this work, the thermal and catalytic cracking of polystyrene (PS) is evaluated by the thermogravimetry technique coupled to FTIR (TGA-FTIR) and the reaction analysis in a two-stage reactor. The aim is to evaluate the decomposition of two samples of PS from different sources (commercial and waste) and to analyze the effect of the catalyst on the liquid fraction (Gasoline (GRO), Kerosene (K) and Diesel (DRO)), the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and particulate matter (PM) from the cracking process. The results indicate that there is a lower emission of PM because the catalyst favours to the formation of DRO fraction and fluorene and phenanthrene, reducing the emissions of other PAH, such as benzo(a)pyrene.