Reaction behavior of the composite composed of iron oxide and plastic wastes

One of ways to reduce the emission of CO₂ from ironmaking process is to use wastes consisted of hydrocarbon materials, such as biomass and organic wastes. The present study is aiming to clarify the subjects in order to effectively utilize the plastic wastes as a reductant of iron oxide. Reduction experiments were carried out under different conditions using the composite samples consisted of iron oxide and plastic. The temperature range of the pyrolysis of plastics is roughly between 600 and 800 K, depending on the kinds of plastics. On the other hand, the reduction of iron oxide mainly proceeds at higher than 1200 K. Therefore, it is essential to design the composite structure and the temperature profile for realizing this temperature difference of the reactions simultaneously in the composite, in order to effectively utilize the pyrolysis gas as a reductant. Further, the generation of the pyrolysis gas tends to promote the crack formation on the surface of the composite and it may obstruct the effective utilization of the gas. This paper will deal with the result of the fundamental study on the way to use the waste plastics in there reduction process of iron oxides.