Improper disposal of plastic from various sources has made plastic waste a global issue, which a comprehensive recycling process is imperiously required to be developed. Conventional plastic recycling methods (<i>e.g.,</i> mechanical recycling) are constricted by their efficiency, cost, possible emissions of hazardous compounds and little tolerance of biocontaminants. To address this problem, in this study, a hydrothermal processes (HTP) was developed to convert the ocean-bound plastic waste (OPW), which are generally wet and has biocontaminants, into useful products under supercritical water. Based on the degradation temperature of the OPW feedstock (425°C), HTP tests were carried out at 425-475°C and 23MPa with reaction times of 0.5−6 h. It was found that above 78 wt% of OPW could be converted into oil products by the increased temperature (≥450°C) or elevated reaction times (≥2h). Over 60% of the oil can be used as naphtha (with the boiling point range of 25°C-200°C). The chemical composition of the oil products will be analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Integrated with elemental analysis of the oil products, a reaction mechanism will be proposed. It is expected that results from this study would contribute to the development of an efficient method for chemically recycling ocean-bound plastic waste.

Hydrothermal process of the ocean-bound plastic waste

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.