Catalytic Air Gasification of Plastic Waste (Polypropylene) in a Fluidized Bed. Part II: Effects of Some Operating Variables on the Quality of the Raw Gas Produced Using Olivine as the In-Bed Material

This work focuses on the gasification of 100 wt % plastic waste (polypropylene). Some operating variables that were studied included the amount of olivine in the gasifier bed, the equivalence ratio, and the freeboard temperature. In a first series of tests, the effect of the amount of olivine in the bed on the gas composition was studied. Using 100 wt % olivine in the gasifier bed provided good results regarding tar content, similar to 2 g of tar/m(N)(3); lower heating value (LHV), similar to 6 MJ/m(N)(3); and gas yield, similar to 5.5 m(N,dry) (3)(basis)/kg(daf). In a second series of tests, the equivalence ratio and freeboard temperature were varied to obtain better results. The tar content in this second series of tests was about 2 g of tar/m(N)(3), the LHV was about 9 MJ/m(N)(3), and the gas yield was about 3.5 m(N,dry basis)(3)/kg(daf)