Preliminary study on the effect of absorber type and quantity on microwave pyrolysis process of polypropylene

Abstract

     This research was to study the effect of type and quantity of microwave absorber on microwave pyrolysis process. Activated carbon and graphite were used as microwave absorber in the percentage of 2, 5 and 10 by weight. The results showed that using activated carbon as microwave absorber gave the liquid content higher than that of graphite. The amount of liquid product from using activated carbon was between
22.20-41.60% (by weight) and tended proportional to the amount of activated carbon used.The density and viscosity of the liquid were 0.72-0.80 kg/L and 5-31 centistoke, respectively. The liquid product density is close but, the viscosity is higher than that of the gasoline from the local station. Component functional groups have been found in the molecular structure of liquid products corresponding to commercially available gasoline containing saturated, unsaturated, and aromatic hydrocarbons. However, further characterization of other properties such as flash point, heat value, and component hydrocarbons should be analyzed.