Investigation on thermal decomposition and kinetics study of recovered oil from electronic waste by thermogravimetric analysis

This paper investigated thermal decomposition during pyrolysis of a recovered oil from electronic waste (e-waste). The sample used in this study was High-Impact Polystyrene (HIPS). The pyrolysis target temperature was 400-550 °C. It was found that the maximum oil yield (32.5 wt.%) was obtained at the pyrolysis temperature of 450 °C. After the pyrolysis test, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was performed on the HIPS-derived oil to study on decomposition and kinetics. The produced pyrolysis oil that contained highest Styrene component (19.52%) was processed at 450 °C. From GC-MS and TGA, the first range (40-120 °C) could be devoted to moisture and other low volatility compounds such as Stylene, Benzene and 2-Hydroxymethyl. Then, the 1,2-Diphenylcyclopropane and α-Methylstyrene might be extensively decomposed at the second range (120-340 °C). The final peak (450-560 °C) could be the decomposition of Tetraphenylhexane. Activation energy of the pyrolysis oil was around 40-43 kJ/mol and 10-18 kJ/mol for the first and the second decomposition range, respectively, and the pyrolysis temperature did not significantly affect the activation energy of the produced oil.