Conversion of End-of-Life Latex Gloves as Chemical Feedstock for the Production of Diesel Range Liquid Fuel

E. A. Arthur, G. Mensah-Sackey, S. N., Baisi Ebo, I. J. Cobbinah, J. Dankwah, E. Abotar, J. R. Dankwah

Abstract


Globally, over 780 billion plastics are used and discarded annually, with no proven avenues for value recovery from this category of the waste stream. This research work investigated the potential for generating diesel range liquid fuel from end-of-life laboratory examination latex gloves (LGs) using a charred palm kernel shell fired reactor-blower assembly in the temperature range 350°C – 550 °C. Samples of LGs were collected from the Minerals Engineering laboratory of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa and were dried in the open without shredding. Samples of the non-shredded LGs weighing approximately 4.0 kg were fed from the top of a stainless steel reactor and pyrolysed for 1hr 40 min. The gas leaving the reactor was then condensed in a plastic container, weighed and characterised by FTIR and GC-MS analyses. The results indicate that samples of diesel range liquid fuel (density 0.858 g/cm3) can be produced from LGs with a yield in the range of 0.40-0.78 litres/kg of pyrolysed material. Results from FTIR and GC-MS analyses showed that the liquid fuel consists primarily of aromatic hydrocarbons (alkyl benzenes), aliphatic hydrocarbons and minor amounts of naphthenes. Analysis of the solid by-product revealed partly carbonaceous material (~36.58 wt% C) that could burn to yield an ash rich in CaO, ZnO and TiO2. It was concluded that liquid fuel production by pyrolysis could offer a benign route for the sustainable disposal of hazardous end-of-life laboratory examination gloves.

 

Keywords: Latex Gloves, Pyrolysis, Liquid Fuel, Char, GC-MS Analysis, FT-IR Analysis, SEM-EDS Analysis


Keywords


Latex Gloves; Pyrolysis; Liquid Fuel; Char; GC-MS Analysis; FT-IR Analysis; SEM-EDS Analysis

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