Gasification of Polyethylene over Solid Catalysts (Part 2)

Fundamental gasification-degradation of polyethylene (PE) over glass beads was studied beads by the use of a fixed bed tubular flow reactor at 486∼562°C, as the beginning in researches for direct catalytic gasification of PE by the flow system. Gasification of PE over glass beads proceeded stationarily without depending on reaction time in every reaction condition. The degree of gasification (RgF) or the rate of it increased with contact time and exponentially with temperature. An empirical relationship among RgF, contact time (1/F) and temperature was found to be:RgF=1.56×106exp(-32, 500/RT)(1/F)0.467where F is the mass flow rate of PE melted.Product composition (_??_C8-hydrocarbon fractions) shifted to smaller fractions with temperature rise, but the amount of methane was slightly 5.5% and 16% of all gaseous products at 486°C (RgF=0.023) and 562°C (RgF=0.204), respectively. Ratio of olefin to paraffin for C2∼C4 fractions increased with the rise of temperature and 1/F, and the ratio for C4 fraction went up to 4 at 562°C and 22min/g-PE. On the other hand, product composition and ratios of olefin to paraffin did not depend on reaction time in every condition.