IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i19p14280-d1248893.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Techno-Economic Feasibility Study for Organic and Plastic Waste Pyrolysis Pilot Plant in Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Mooktzeng Lim

    (NexantECA (MY) Sdn Bhd, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur 59200, Malaysia)

  • Ee Sann Tan

    (Institute of Sustainable Energy (ISE), Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Jalan Ikram-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia)

Abstract

Organic and plastic waste (OPW) is diverted from landfills in order to lower carbon emissions. Nevertheless, modern pyrolysis techniques are frequently utilized in laboratories (using feedstocks that weigh less than 1 kg), which employ costly pure nitrogen gas (N 2 ). This study developed a fast pyrolysis system to produce pyrolysis oil or liquid (PyOL) from OPW using flue gas as the pyrolysis agent. The added benefits included the efficient value-added chemical extractions and the non-thermal plasma reactor upgraded PyOL. OPW was also pyrolyzed at a pilot scale using flue gas fast pyrolysis in this study. In addition to lowering operational expenses associated with pure N 2 , flue gas reduced the lifecycle carbon emissions to create PyOL. The results indicated that considerable material agglomeration occurred during the OPW pyrolysis with an organic-to-plastic-waste (O/P) ratio of 30/70. Furthermore, the liquid yields were 5.2% and 5.5% when O/P was 100/0 (305 °C) and 99.5/0.5 (354 °C), respectively. The liquid yields also increased when polymers (polypropylene) were added, enhancing the aromatics. Two cases were employed to study their techno-economic feasibility: PyOL-based production and chemical-extraction plants. The mitigated CO 2 from the redirected OPW and flue gas produced the highest revenue in terms of carbon credits. Moreover, the carbon price (from RM 100 to 150 per ton of CO 2 ) was the most important factor impacting the economic viability in both cases. Plant capacities higher than 10,000 kg/h were economically viable for the PyOL-based plants, whereas capacities greater than 1000 kg/h were financially feasible for chemical-extraction plants. Overall, the study found that the pyrolysis of OPW in flue gas is a viable waste-to-energy technology. The low liquid yield is offset by the carbon credits that can be earned, making the process economically feasible.

Suggested Citation

  • Mooktzeng Lim & Ee Sann Tan, 2023. "Techno-Economic Feasibility Study for Organic and Plastic Waste Pyrolysis Pilot Plant in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14280-:d:1248893
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14280/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14280/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohammad I. Jahirul & Mohammad G. Rasul & Ashfaque Ahmed Chowdhury & Nanjappa Ashwath, 2012. "Biofuels Production through Biomass Pyrolysis —A Technological Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(12), pages 1-50, November.
    2. Ding, Yanming & Huang, Biqing & Wu, Chuanbao & He, Qize & Lu, Kaihua, 2019. "Kinetic model and parameters study of lignocellulosic biomass oxidative pyrolysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 11-17.
    3. Fivga, Antzela & Dimitriou, Ioanna, 2018. "Pyrolysis of plastic waste for production of heavy fuel substitute: A techno-economic assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 865-874.
    4. Oh, Seung-Jin & Choi, Gyung-Goo & Kim, Joo-Sik, 2015. "Fast pyrolysis of corn stover using ZnCl2: Effect of washing treatment on the furfural yield and solvent extraction of furfural," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 697-702.
    5. Ren, Tao & Patel, Martin K., 2009. "Basic petrochemicals from natural gas, coal and biomass: Energy use and CO2 emissions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 53(9), pages 513-528.
    6. Sophonrat, Nanta & Sandström, Linda & Zaini, Ilman Nuran & Yang, Weihong, 2018. "Stepwise pyrolysis of mixed plastics and paper for separation of oxygenated and hydrocarbon condensates," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 314-325.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Primaz, Carmem T. & Ribes-Greus, Amparo & Jacques, Rosângela A., 2021. "Valorization of cotton residues for production of bio-oil and engineered biochar," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    2. Park, Young-Kwon & Jung, Jaehun & Ryu, Sumin & Lee, Hyung Won & Siddiqui, Muhammad Zain & Jae, Jungho & Watanabe, Atsushi & Kim, Young-Min, 2019. "Catalytic co-pyrolysis of yellow poplar wood and polyethylene terephthalate over two stage calcium oxide-ZSM-5," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1706-1718.
    3. Aboagye, D. & Banadda, N. & Kiggundu, N. & Kabenge, I., 2017. "Assessment of orange peel waste availability in ghana and potential bio-oil yield using fast pyrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 814-821.
    4. Lane, Blake & Kinnon, Michael Mac & Shaffer, Brendan & Samuelsen, Scott, 2022. "Deployment planning tool for environmentally sensitive heavy-duty vehicles and fueling infrastructure," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Nabavi-Pelesaraei, Ashkan & Azadi, Hossein & Van Passel, Steven & Saber, Zahra & Hosseini-Fashami, Fatemeh & Mostashari-Rad, Fatemeh & Ghasemi-Mobtaker, Hassan, 2021. "Prospects of solar systems in production chain of sunflower oil using cold press method with concentrating energy and life cycle assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    6. Elhambakhsh, Abbas & Van Duc Long, Nguyen & Lamichhane, Pradeep & Hessel, Volker, 2023. "Recent progress and future directions in plasma-assisted biomass conversion to hydrogen," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    7. Taghizadeh-Alisaraei, Ahmad & Assar, Hossein Alizadeh & Ghobadian, Barat & Motevali, Ali, 2017. "Potential of biofuel production from pistachio waste in Iran," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 510-522.
    8. Kumar N, Sasi & Grekov, Denys & Pré, Pascaline & Alappat, Babu J., 2020. "Microwave mode of heating in the preparation of porous carbon materials for adsorption and energy storage applications – An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Zaini, Ilman Nuran & Gomez-Rueda, Yamid & García López, Cristina & Ratnasari, Devy Kartika & Helsen, Lieve & Pretz, Thomas & Jönsson, Pär Göran & Yang, Weihong, 2020. "Production of H2-rich syngas from excavated landfill waste through steam co-gasification with biochar," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    10. Fabián Vargas & Armando Pérez & Rene Delgado & Emilio Hernández & José Alejandro Suástegui, 2019. "Performance Analysis of a Compression Ignition Engine Using Mixture Biodiesel Palm and Diesel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-26, September.
    11. Neves, Renato Cruz & Klein, Bruno Colling & da Silva, Ricardo Justino & Rezende, Mylene Cristina Alves Ferreira & Funke, Axel & Olivarez-Gómez, Edgardo & Bonomi, Antonio & Maciel-Filho, Rubens, 2020. "A vision on biomass-to-liquids (BTL) thermochemical routes in integrated sugarcane biorefineries for biojet fuel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Jouhara, H. & Nannou, T.K. & Anguilano, L. & Ghazal, H. & Spencer, N., 2017. "Heat pipe based municipal waste treatment unit for home energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1210-1230.
    13. Kamel, Salah & El-Sattar, Hoda Abd & Vera, David & Jurado, Francisco, 2018. "Bioenergy potential from agriculture residues for energy generation in Egypt," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 28-37.
    14. Kawale, Harshal D. & Kishore, Nanda, 2019. "Production of hydrocarbons from a green algae (Oscillatoria) with exploration of its fuel characteristics over different reaction atmospheres," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 344-355.
    15. M. N. Uddin & Kuaanan Techato & Juntakan Taweekun & Md Mofijur Rahman & M. G. Rasul & T. M. I. Mahlia & S. M. Ashrafur, 2018. "An Overview of Recent Developments in Biomass Pyrolysis Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, November.
    16. Andrew N. Amenaghawon & Chinedu L. Anyalewechi & Charity O. Okieimen & Heri Septya Kusuma, 2021. "Biomass pyrolysis technologies for value-added products: a state-of-the-art review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 14324-14378, October.
    17. Workson Siwale & Stefan Frodeson & Michael Finell & Mehrdad Arshadi & Carina Jonsson & Gunnar Henriksson & Jonas Berghel, 2022. "Understanding Off-Gassing of Biofuel Wood Pellets Using Pellets Produced from Pure Microcrystalline Cellulose with Different Additive Oils," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-12, March.
    18. Sánchez, M. & Clifford, B. & Nixon, J.D., 2018. "Modelling and evaluating a solar pyrolysis system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 630-638.
    19. Andrade Díaz, Christhel & Albers, Ariane & Zamora-Ledezma, Ezequiel & Hamelin, Lorie, 2024. "The interplay between bioeconomy and the maintenance of long-term soil organic carbon stock in agricultural soils: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    20. Fan, Liangliang & Liu, Lei & Xiao, Zhiguo & Su, Zheyang & Huang, Pei & Peng, Hongyu & Lv, Sen & Jiang, Haiwei & Ruan, Roger & Chen, Paul & Zhou, Wenguang, 2021. "Comparative study of continuous-stirred and batch microwave pyrolysis of linear low-density polyethylene in the presence/absence of HZSM-5," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14280-:d:1248893. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.