Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment

Jia Wang; Jianchun Jiang; Xinyue Dong; Yiyun Zhang; Xiangzhou Yuan; Xianzhi Meng; Guowu Zhan; Lei Wang; Yanqin Wang; Arthur J. Ragauskas

doi:10.1039/D2GC02538H

Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment†

Jia Wang,^ab Jianchun Jiang,

*^ab Xinyue Dong,^c Yiyun Zhang,^b Xiangzhou Yuan,

^d Xianzhi Meng,

^e Guowu Zhan,

^f Lei Wang,

*^c Yanqin Wang

^g and Arthur J. Ragauskas

^ehi

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Jiangsu co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Longpan Road 159, Nanjing 210037, China
E-mail: jiangjc@caf.ac.cn

^b Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), No. 16, Suojin Five Village, Nanjing 210042, China

^c Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, Zhejiang Province, China
E-mail: wang_lei@westlake.edu.cn

^d Korea Biochar Research Center, APRU Sustainable Waste Management & Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

^e Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

^f College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, 668 Jimei Avenue, Xiamen, Fujian, P. R. China

^g Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Joint International Research Laboratory of Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

^h Center for Renewable Carbon, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

ⁱ Joint Institute of Biological Sciences, Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the world through the anguish from a fast-spreading virus and by struggling with the increasing plastic waste. A catalytic cascade process where hydropyrolysis was coupled with downstream vapor-phase hydrotreatment was employed for the first time to upcycle real-world mixed plastic waste into drop-in fuels. This tandem vapor-phase hydrotreatment technology is feedstock-agnostic and therefore capable of upcycling different kinds of personal protective equipment (PPE) plastic waste into drop-in fuels over a non-noble bifunctional Ni/NiAl₂O₄ catalyst. A maximum 88.9 wt% single-pass yield of drop-in fuel-range hydrocarbons was obtained with a hydrotreatment temperature of 300 °C at 0.3 MPa H₂. Life cycle assessment showed that this catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment approach had a high energy efficiency of 94%. The global warming potential of the obtained fuel could be reduced by 72% as a maximum in the low carbon future, compared with conventional fuel blends, indicating that it can be used as a promising chemical upcycling technology for achieving a sustainable plastic circular economy.

Green Chemistry

Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment†

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Catalytic cascade vapor-phase hydrotreatment of plastic waste into fuels and its sustainability assessment

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