The world has seen an exponential increase in the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits during the COVID-19 pandemic, generating an equivalent amount of PPE waste. A majority of these wastes are either incinerated along with biomedical wastes or are dumped in landfills. Such single-use plastics have huge potential as raw materials to produce fuel and refinery blendstocks via catalytic pyrolysis process. A typical PPE kit encompasses surgical mask, N-95 mask, coverall (head and shoe cover), nitrile gloves, face shield, and safety goggles.<br/><br/>In this study, fourteen different samples from the PPE kit were collected and characterized using analytical pyrolyser coupled with Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (Py-GC/MS). A majority of the hydrocarbons were quantified using pure compound standards. The characterization showed that more than 95 wt.% of the PPE kit were made up of only three polymers, viz. polypropylene (PP, 76 wt.%), polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 13 wt.%), and polycarbonate (PC, 6 wt.%). HZSM-5 and HY zeolites were used for catalytic upgradation of pyrolysates. Experiments were performed at different pyrolysis temperatures (500, 600, 700<sup>o</sup>C) and feed-to-catalyst ratios (1:2, 1:4, 1:6 wt./wt.) to achieve maximum yield of valuable petrochemical products. Catalytic fast pyrolysis of PP with HY resulted in 60% higher BETX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) yield than HZSM-5. In the case of face shield (PET), a substantial reduction in the yield of oxygenates up to 86% was achieved with a concomitant increase in aromatic hydrocarbons by ~80%. For deoxygenation, HY showed better selectivity than HZSM-5 owing to optimum pores and higher acid site strength. Fast pyrolysis of goggles (PC) with HY at 600°C resulted in ~81% deoxygenation, while it was only 48% with HZSM-5. More interesting results pertaining to the yield of individual hydrocarbons, catalyst activity and scale-up possibilities will be discussed during the presentation.

Screening of polymers from PPE kits and catalytic fast pyrolysis of polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate and polycarbonate using zeolites

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

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