PL EN
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Formed During the Pyrolysis Process of Plastics – Characterization, Quantification and Risk Assessment
 
More details
Hide details
1
Faculty of Environment, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Pasteurova 3632/15, 400 96, Usti and Labem, Czech Republic
 
2
ORLEN UniCRE a.s., Revolucni 1521/84, 400 01, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic
 
3
Department of Electrotechnology, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27, Prague 6, Czech Republic
 
4
Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, Tajovskeho 40, 974 01, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
 
 
Corresponding author
Lucie Oravová   

Faculty of Environment, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Pasteurova 3632/15, 400 96, Usti and Labem, Czech Republic
 
 
Ecol. Eng. Environ. Technol. 2024; 5:256-264
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Occurrence, distribution, and toxicity assessment of 16 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) prioritized by the US Environmental Protection Agency in pyrolysis products – pyrolysis oil and pyrolysis wax – of different plastics are characterized. PP, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, PS (respectively, polypropylene, high- and low-density polyethylene, polyvinylchloride and polystyrene) and their mixture named 5P are chosen as a feed material for pyrolysis. Pyrolysis process is carried out in a custom-built laboratory batch reactor with the pyrolysis temperature of 450 °C for PP, PVC, PS and 500 °C for HDPE and LDPE. 5P mixture is pyrolyzed at 500 and 700 °C. PAHs quantification is used to determine the toxicity equivalency quantity TEQ(BaP) for each pyrolysis product and to establish the degree of toxicity. The highest total concentration of 16 PAHs in pyrolysis oil is found to decrease in the order of PVC > PP > PS > LDPE > HDPE. According to TEQ(BaP), the toxicity of the most toxic pyrolysis oils correlates with the aforementioned order of the total concentration, i.e., being lowest for HPDE and highest for PVC. For pyrolysis wax, the highest total concentration of 16 PAHs is for PVC > PS > LDPE > PP > HDPE, while TEQ(BaP) value decreases as PVC > LDPE > PP > PS > HDPE. The PAHs concentration and TEQ(BaP) values of 5P mixture show similar trends in both products (oil, wax), i.e., they both increase with increasing pyrolysis temperature.
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top