Polyethylene conversion in supercritical water

Masaru Watanabe, Hideyuki Hirakoso, Shuhei Sawamoto, Adschiri Tadafumi Adschiri, Kunio Arai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

104 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper describes pyrolysis of polyethylene (PE) and n-hexadecane (nC16) in supercritical water (SCW). Batch reactions were conducted at temperatures ranging from 673 to 723 K, at a reaction time of 30 min, and water density between 0 and 0.42 g/cm3. The pyrolysis rate of nC16 in SCW was almost the same as that in 0.1 MPa argon (Ar) atmosphere. Product distribution was also more or less the same for both cases. PE pyrolysis results were clearly different from pyrolysis results in Ar. In SCW, higher yields of shorter chain hydrocarbons, higher 1-alkene/n-alkane ratio, and higher conversion were obtained. This difference of PE pyrolysis in SCW and in Ar could be explained by considering the difference in the reaction phase.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)247-252
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Supercritical Fluids
Volume13
Issue number1-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1998 Jun 15

Keywords

  • Hydrocarbon
  • n-Hexadecane
  • Polyethylene
  • Pyrolysis
  • Supercritical water

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