Population Balance Equations for Reactive Separation in Polymer Upcycling

Area of Science:

• Chemical Engineering
• Polymer Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Polymer upcycling aims to convert plastic waste into valuable liquid hydrocarbons.
• Cleavage of middle distillates into light gases is a significant challenge in current processes.
• Catalyst presence in the liquid phase protects middle distillates in the vapor phase from further degradation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a reactive separation strategy for polymer upcycling.
• To model polymer upcycling in a two-phase semibatch reactor.
• To enhance the selectivity and yield of middle distillates.

Main Methods:

• Utilized vapor-liquid equilibrium models.
• Employed population balance equations (PBEs).
• Simulated a two-phase semibatch reactor with a gas outflow.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that temperature, headspace volume, and flow rate can tune selectivity.
• Showed that reactive separation boosts the yield of desired middle distillates.
• Identified key parameters for controlling product distribution in polymer upcycling.

Conclusions:

• Two-phase reactor models are crucial for polymer upcycling.
• Reactive separation strategies offer a viable approach to increase product yield.
• Optimizing reactor conditions can significantly improve the efficiency of plastic waste conversion.