Microwave assisted heating of plastic waste: Effect of plastic/susceptor (SiC) contacting patterns

Title Microwave assisted heating of plastic waste: Effect of plastic/susceptor (SiC) contacting patterns
Publication Type Journal Article
Authors
Keywords
Abstract
Plastic accumulation is a growing sustainability challenge. Most plastics are thermally inert at room temperature, requiring high temperatures for depolymerization. In the quest for developing sustainable plastic upcycling, we investigate silicon carbide (SiC) as microwave absorbing susceptors for reaching depolymerization temperatures. We utilize three SiC topologies – particles, hot-pressed plastic films containing SiC particles, and monoliths. SiC particles of >0.5 mm in diameter can provide heating rates approaching ∼200 °C/min at modest powers. Still, physically mixed plastic-susceptor beds suffer from density differences, causing non-uniform contact during plastic softening and melting. Hot-pressed plastic films containing SiC particles allow uniform plastic-susceptor contact but suffer from slow heating as only a single layer of susceptors exists between polymer layers. SiC monoliths mitigate these challenges by preferentially dissipating the microwaves and rapidly heating the plastics independently of polymeric properties.
Year of Publication
2022
Journal
Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process Intensification
Volume
182
Number of Pages
109202
Date Published
dec
URL
DOI
Download citation