Pyrolysis Process Of Waste Polyethyleneterephtalate

Abstract

Polyethyleneterephtalate (PET) is one of the most popular plastic materials used for various purposes, mainly for producing of bottles. Recycling of this material is known, but the ratio of recycled material is too low. With the lowering of primary resources, the PET could be used as a secondary source of carbon and hydrocarbons. One of the ways of processing the waste PET is pyrolysis under the specific conditions, which leads to decomposition of this material with two main products. First, it is a mixture of organic acids – terephtalic acid and benzoic acid with a ratio about 10:1. Those acids can be used in the chemical industry; terephtalic acid can be used for producing of brand-new PET. The second product is solid carbon, which can be used for various purposes, for example as the active carbon. Several experiments were accomplished with this carbon material under various conditions of its activation. Conditions of these experiments could affect the specific surface area of active carbon up to 1200 square meters per gram, and also the pore volume as well as the pore diameter.