Study of kinetics of co-pyrolysis of coal and waste LDPE blends under argon atmosphere

Co-pyrolysis of coal with waste plastic is increasingly being looked upon as a potential technique to counter the present day challenges in energy and waste management by harnessing the multiple benefits associated with the same. In the present work, the kinetics of co-pyrolysis of waste LDPE carried out with coal of Ledo origin from the coalfields of Assam (India) has been studied. A thermo-gravimetric (TG) study of the co-pyrolysis has been carried out taking waste LDPE-coal mixtures in ratios of 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 by weight and at five varying heating rates from 5 to 25 K min−1 with a 5 K increment. Experiments were also carried out for the individual components at all the five heating rates. This TG analysis data was used to evaluate the kinetics parameters such as the activation energy, pre-exponential factors, and the reaction orders, applying a model fitting approach. The results of the kinetics analysis indicate higher activation energy for the mixtures. With increase in the coal percentage, the reaction order is found to increase. Also the synergistic effect between the two sample species in the mixtures has been studied and found to indicate presence of interaction between coal and LDPE. The effect of sample composition on the products of co-pyrolysis has also been compared.