Abstract
Plastic consumption is a significant part of everyday life and has revolutionized the way we live. Polyethylene terephthalate or PET is a notable example. PET has become a material of choice for bottling beverages and other uses such as microwave trays and food films. As a result, there is an exorbitant amount of waste disposal of this particular polymer throughout our environment, particularly in landfills and even in the oceans. A significant factor is the fact that this polymer is difficult to eliminate due to a slow degradation process and its inability to incinerate. Furthermore, incineration is not recommended due to the aromatic ring and its molecular structure that may cause adverse health effects. For this reason, this research studied the effects of residual PET by catalytic thermal degradation as a recycling method to generate fuel or new chemical products. The PET sample was pyrolized using different ratio proportions of calcium hydroxide catalyst/sample at temperatures ranging from 370 to 507 °C. Subsequently, the samples were analyzed by GC-MS chromatography technique to characterize their composition. All samples obtained from the experiments had two phases, oil and aqueous, respectively. The Benzene production was obtained in the range of 70% to 80% in the oil phase which can be used to produce of polymeric materials. On the other hand, ethane with composition at approximately 38% was obtained from the aqueous phase. The results are promising and can be maximized by additional techniques such as hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation to obtain value-added products.
