Emissions from Portable Power Generated Using Pyrolysis Gas of Waste Polyolefin Plastics

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-15-2026

Abstract

In this work, pyrolysis gas was generated from a novel liquid-fed pyrolysis process using military waste polyethylene and polypropylene feedstock. The collected pyrolysis gas was compressed into a receiving tank up to 20.68 barg and then used to fuel a portable power generator. Due to the complex nature of the fuel, a vapor–liquid equilibrium model was created using the Peng–Robinson equation of state and Rachford–Rice equation to model the changing composition in the receiving tank as a function of filling/draining cycles. The heavier compounds in the py-gas fuel, such as C4–C7 alkenes and alkanes, were found to slowly accumulate in the liquid phase of the tank over several filling/draining cycles. Despite this change in composition, the lower heating value of the fuel was found to remain constant across 100 filling/drying cycles. During combustion, pyrolysis gas was found to burn more rapidly than propane, resulting in a higher cylinder pressure. Modifications to the tank regulator and retarding the spark timing were necessary for pyrolysis to achieve equivalent combustion performance to propane. In addition, emissions data (including CO, CO2, total hydrocarbons, NOx) was found to be comparable to or slightly higher than commercial propane fuel, but well below regulatory limits. Finally, overall generator fuel efficiencies were found to range from 16 to 18%, similar to propane, concluding that py-gas from waste PE and PP pyrolysis is a suitable drop-in fuel replacement for propane.

Publication Title

Energy and Fuels

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