Alternative green application areas for olive pomace catalytic pyrolysis biochar obtained via marble sludge catalyst.

Evaluating industrial wastes in the system with minimum preprocessing and generation economically valuable products from them have critical importance. In this regard, especially cheap, wieldy, and readily available catalysts have been researched to increase variety of useful products in pyrolysis systems, to reduce process time, and to increase quality and diversity of products. Therefore, in this study, marble sludge (named K1) was evaluated as catalyst at different dosages (10%, 20%, 30%, 50%) and pyrolysis temperatures (300, 500, 700 °C) in olive pomace (OP) pyrolysis and; the potential green applications of produced new biochars at new usage areas with different purposes based on characteristics were investigated. ANOVA test results showed that temperature and catalysts ratio had significant effect on pyrolysis product yields since significance value for K1 and temperature was lower than 0.05 for pyrolysis products. OP-K1 biochars had alkaline properties and high earth metal quantities. Moreover, increment in K1 ratio and temperature resulted in decrement of the biochar surface acidity. Therefore, it can be indicated that these biochars can have a potential usage for anaerobic digestion processes, lithium-ion batteries, and direct carbon solid oxide fuel cell (DC-SOFC) but further electrochemical property test should be performed. Moreover, produced biochars can be alternative fuels in some processes instead of coal since they have low S content and high heat values. Consequently, it is foreseen that produced biochars will have an important place in the development of potential usage areas with a new and environmentally friendly approach in different areas apart from the conventional uses of catalytic pyrolysis chars.

The role of physicochemical marble processing wastewater treatment sludge in the production of new generation pyrolysis char from waste polypropylene.

The effects of marble processing wastewater physicochemical treatment sludge (K1) on polypropylene (PP) waste pyrolysis were investigated by lab-scale batch pyrolysis system. PP-K1 proportions and pyrolysis temperature were studied as variables and both were found to have influences onto pyrolysis char, oil/tar, gas fractions distribution, as well as pyrolysis char characteristics (determined via SEM, EDX, FTIR, TGA and XRD analyses). The influence of K1 could be related to its high mineral composition (CaCO3, CaMg(CO3)2 and (Mg0.03Ca0.97)(CO3)) which also detected in the char products. K1 acts as catalyst and remained unchanged in thermochemical reactions below 700°C. The main thermal degradation of PP occurs around 400-470°C, although it starts at about 300-350°C, whereas, K1 resulted in more thermal degradation at 300°C pyrolysis. As K1 dose increased, pyrolysis chars became more thermally stable with the pyrolysis temperature. Diverse types of chars in terms of porosity, thermal strength and chemical structure were produced with PP + K1 as compared to the PP chars. For example, with 10%-20% K1 doses, the chars are in aromatic structure while chars become aliphatic when K1 dosage increased to 30% or above. The structural diversity made these chars new products that can be used as raw material for subsequent purposes. This study provided a basis for the chars' physical and chemical properties which are needed for further research to develop new generation evaluation areas for them. Therefore, a new symbiotic upcycling approach has been presented for PP wastes and marble processing wastewater treatment sludge.

Behaviour of waste polypropylene pyrolysis char-based epoxy composite materials.

In this study, polypropylene (PP) plastic wastes were pyrolysed. Solid pyrolysis product (char) was used as filler material for the preparation of epoxy composite. 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C were selected as final pyrolysis temperatures. Solid pyrolysis product (char) was analysed by elemental, FTIR, SEM, BET and TGA analysis. The epoxy composite samples were prepared with char obtained from pyrolysis. Mechanical properties of composites were analysed by hardness, tensile strength, elongation at break, electrical conductivity tests to explain the effects of pyrolysis temperature and char doses over composite properties. Thermogravimetric properties of composites were determined by TGA analyses. The water absorption behaviour of composite samples was determined by water adsorption test. Epoxy composite produced from PP char obtained under 300 °C showed the most ideal behaviour.

Chemical and plasma surface modification of lignocellulose coconut waste for the preparation of advanced biobased composite materials.

In this study, surface-modified grinded coconut waste (CW) particles were used as bio-fillers to prepare polymeric composite materials with enhanced properties. Epoxy resin modified with acrylated and epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) was used as the polymer matrix. Two different strategies, namely chemical treatment and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were utilized to modify the surface of CW particles for using them as compatible bio-fillers in composite preparation. Chemical modification involved the treatment of CW particles in a highly alkali NaOH solution, while PECVD modification involved coating of a thin film of hydrophobic poly(hexafluorobutyl acrylate) (PHFBA) around individual CW particle surfaces. Untreated and surface-modified CW particles were used in 10-50wt% for preparation of epoxy composites. FTIR analysis was performed to study the effect of modification on the structures of particles and as-prepared composites. The composite morphologies were investigated by XRD and SE. TGA test was conducted to study the thermal behavior of the composites. Also, the effects of CW particle surface modification on the mechanical and water sorption properties of epoxy resin composites were investigated in detail. It was observed that PECVD-treated CW particles had much more positive effects on the thermal, mechanical, wettability and flammability properties of composites.