Production of Liquid Fuel from Plastic Waste

Plastic consumption and production have grown since its first production in the 1950s. About 4% of global oil and gas production is used as feedstock for plastics, and 3–4% is used to provide energy for their manufacture. Plastic waste can be recycled by mechanical methods, such as incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is gaining attention as plastic wastes can be technically used for oil production because the calorific value of the plastics is quite comparable to that of oil, making this option an attractive alternative. Plastic pyrolysis can address the twin problems of plastic waste disposal and depletion of fossil fuel reserves. Pyrolysis oil has properties that are close to those of clean fuel and is, therefore, a substitute for fresh fossil fuel for power generation, transport, and other applications. However, factors such as reactor type, heating rate, residence time, the composition of waste plastic feed, mode of operation, and catalyst influence the yield of pyrolysis products. The process condition can be tuned depending on the choice of product (oil, gas, or char). However, most of the studies focused on maximizing the oil yield. This chapter describes in detail the effect of various parameters on sustainable pyrolysis process.