{"id":{"repo_id":"aalto","oai_identifier":"oai:aaltodoc.aalto.fi:123456789/129774"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/aalto/oai:aaltodoc.aalto.fi:123456789/129774","repository":{"repo_id":"aalto","name":"Aalto University","base_url":"https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Solar-assisted sorption-enhanced gasification of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste - Experimentation and process modelling","abstract":"Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a common plastic that has been widely used in packaging and textiles. In European Union countries, only 10% of PET plastic was recycled in a closed loop, and the remained was discarded in nature. Therefore, we proposed the solar-assisted sorptionenhanced gasification (SEG) to produce H2 and other materials from PET waste. This research aims to study the solar-assisted SEG of PET waste by experiments to obtain the optimized operating conditions, and then use them in Aspen Plus modelling to investigate the techno-economic performance of the system. This research was divided into four tasks: three experiments of PET steam gasification, PET steam gasification with CaO, and solar-assisted Ca looping process in bubbling fluidized beds, and the Aspen Plus modelling of SEG of PET integrated with a steam power plant and a LiBr-H2O absorption chiller to recover the excess heat in the process. Four journal papers were published accordingly to research tasks. Publication 1 revealed that gas yields increased significantly with the increasing temperatures, and the total tar yields dropped. The effect of temperature on gas products was more remarkable than steam-to-PET ratio and residence time. Carbon balance analysis showed that half of the carbon in PET was converted into tars, and CO2 was the dominant gas product. Publication 2 reported that adding CaO promoted H2 and CO2 yields and reduced tars, meaning that CaO mainly acted as a catalyst at the examined conditions at examined temperatures. Correlations between gas products and three operating parameters: temperature, CaO-to-PET ratio, and steam-to-PET ratio were fitted with the help of response surface methodology, and the gas yields were predicted well. Publication 3 studied the solarassisted Ca looping process and obtained the optimized combined temperatures of carbonation 650 °C and calcination 850 °C to minimize CaO deactivation and maximize the energy-carrying capacity, considering a reasonable mass flow rate between the solar calciner and the gasifier. Publication 4 discovered that the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system were 60%–70% for both day and night modes. The annual production of H2 and benzene were 684 t and 6286 t, respectively, with an annual 19 kt of PET feedstock and capturing 21 kt of CO2. The project is feasible when the benzene price is greater than 1092 €/t and the CO2 prices are higher than 80 - 120 €/t. The results show that there is a potential to implement solar-assisted SEG of PET plastic waste to produce H2 and other valuable chemicals. This research provides a novel method for PET plastic waste upcycling sustainably with zero CO2 emission and a renewable heat source without burning additional fuels to achieve the zero plastic waste goal in the future.","abstract_html":"Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a common plastic that has been widely used in packaging and textiles. In European Union countries, only 10% of PET plastic was recycled in a closed loop, and the remained was discarded in nature. Therefore, we proposed the solar-assisted sorptionenhanced gasification (SEG) to produce H2 and other materials from PET waste. This research aims to study the solar-assisted SEG of PET waste by experiments to obtain the optimized operating conditions, and then use them in Aspen Plus modelling to investigate the techno-economic performance of the system. This research was divided into four tasks: three experiments of PET steam gasification, PET steam gasification with CaO, and solar-assisted Ca looping process in bubbling fluidized beds, and the Aspen Plus modelling of SEG of PET integrated with a steam power plant and a LiBr-H2O absorption chiller to recover the excess heat in the process. Four journal papers were published accordingly to research tasks. Publication 1 revealed that gas yields increased significantly with the increasing temperatures, and the total tar yields dropped. The effect of temperature on gas products was more remarkable than steam-to-PET ratio and residence time. Carbon balance analysis showed that half of the carbon in PET was converted into tars, and CO2 was the dominant gas product. Publication 2 reported that adding CaO promoted H2 and CO2 yields and reduced tars, meaning that CaO mainly acted as a catalyst at the examined conditions at examined temperatures. Correlations between gas products and three operating parameters: temperature, CaO-to-PET ratio, and steam-to-PET ratio were fitted with the help of response surface methodology, and the gas yields were predicted well. Publication 3 studied the solarassisted Ca looping process and obtained the optimized combined temperatures of carbonation 650 °C and calcination 850 °C to minimize CaO deactivation and maximize the energy-carrying capacity, considering a reasonable mass flow rate between the solar calciner and the gasifier. Publication 4 discovered that the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system were 60%–70% for both day and night modes. The annual production of H2 and benzene were 684 t and 6286 t, respectively, with an annual 19 kt of PET feedstock and capturing 21 kt of CO2. The project is feasible when the benzene price is greater than 1092 €/t and the CO2 prices are higher than 80 - 120 €/t. The results show that there is a potential to implement solar-assisted SEG of PET plastic waste to produce H2 and other valuable chemicals. This research provides a novel method for PET plastic waste upcycling sustainably with zero CO2 emission and a renewable heat source without burning additional fuels to achieve the zero plastic waste goal in the future.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Li, Shouzhuang"],"institution":"Aalto University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Konetekniikan laitos","school":null,"contributors":["Aalto-yliopisto","Aalto University"],"advisors":["Vuorinen, Ville, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Finland","Järvinen, Mika, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Finland"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024","date_published":"2024","updated_at":"2026-08-21T16:42:07Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/129774","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"source_record":{"url":"https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Aaaltodoc.aalto.fi%3A123456789%2F129774","prefix":"dim"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Aalto-yliopisto","Aalto University"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Vuorinen, Ville, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Finland"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Konetekniikan laitos","Department of Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.supervisor","label":"Supervisor","values":["Järvinen, Mika, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Finland"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Li, Shouzhuang"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2024-08-09T09:00:37Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-08-09T09:00:37Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Aalto University","Aalto-yliopisto"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["G5 Artikkeliväitöskirja"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["text"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/129774"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a common plastic that has been widely used in packaging and textiles. In European Union countries, only 10% of PET plastic was recycled in a closed loop, and the remained was discarded in nature. Therefore, we proposed the solar-assisted sorptionenhanced gasification (SEG) to produce H2 and other materials from PET waste. This research aims to study the solar-assisted SEG of PET waste by experiments to obtain the optimized operating conditions, and then use them in Aspen Plus modelling to investigate the techno-economic performance of the system. This research was divided into four tasks: three experiments of PET steam gasification, PET steam gasification with CaO, and solar-assisted Ca looping process in bubbling fluidized beds, and the Aspen Plus modelling of SEG of PET integrated with a steam power plant and a LiBr-H2O absorption chiller to recover the excess heat in the process. Four journal papers were published accordingly to research tasks. Publication 1 revealed that gas yields increased significantly with the increasing temperatures, and the total tar yields dropped. The effect of temperature on gas products was more remarkable than steam-to-PET ratio and residence time. Carbon balance analysis showed that half of the carbon in PET was converted into tars, and CO2 was the dominant gas product. Publication 2 reported that adding CaO promoted H2 and CO2 yields and reduced tars, meaning that CaO mainly acted as a catalyst at the examined conditions at examined temperatures. Correlations between gas products and three operating parameters: temperature, CaO-to-PET ratio, and steam-to-PET ratio were fitted with the help of response surface methodology, and the gas yields were predicted well. Publication 3 studied the solarassisted Ca looping process and obtained the optimized combined temperatures of carbonation 650 °C and calcination 850 °C to minimize CaO deactivation and maximize the energy-carrying capacity, considering a reasonable mass flow rate between the solar calciner and the gasifier. Publication 4 discovered that the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system were 60%–70% for both day and night modes. The annual production of H2 and benzene were 684 t and 6286 t, respectively, with an annual 19 kt of PET feedstock and capturing 21 kt of CO2. The project is feasible when the benzene price is greater than 1092 €/t and the CO2 prices are higher than 80 - 120 €/t. The results show that there is a potential to implement solar-assisted SEG of PET plastic waste to produce H2 and other valuable chemicals. This research provides a novel method for PET plastic waste upcycling sustainably with zero CO2 emission and a renewable heat source without burning additional fuels to achieve the zero plastic waste goal in the future."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Solar-assisted sorption-enhanced gasification of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste - Experimentation and process modelling"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Aalto-yliopisto","Aalto University"],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Vuorinen, Ville, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Finland"],"dc:contributor.department":["Konetekniikan laitos","Department of Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:contributor.supervisor":["Järvinen, Mika, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Finland"],"dc:creator":["Li, Shouzhuang"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2024-08-09T09:00:37Z"],"dc:date.available":["2024-08-09T09:00:37Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2024"],"dc:description.abstract":["Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a common plastic that has been widely used in packaging and textiles. In European Union countries, only 10% of PET plastic was recycled in a closed loop, and the remained was discarded in nature. Therefore, we proposed the solar-assisted sorptionenhanced gasification (SEG) to produce H2 and other materials from PET waste. This research aims to study the solar-assisted SEG of PET waste by experiments to obtain the optimized operating conditions, and then use them in Aspen Plus modelling to investigate the techno-economic performance of the system. This research was divided into four tasks: three experiments of PET steam gasification, PET steam gasification with CaO, and solar-assisted Ca looping process in bubbling fluidized beds, and the Aspen Plus modelling of SEG of PET integrated with a steam power plant and a LiBr-H2O absorption chiller to recover the excess heat in the process. Four journal papers were published accordingly to research tasks. Publication 1 revealed that gas yields increased significantly with the increasing temperatures, and the total tar yields dropped. The effect of temperature on gas products was more remarkable than steam-to-PET ratio and residence time. Carbon balance analysis showed that half of the carbon in PET was converted into tars, and CO2 was the dominant gas product. Publication 2 reported that adding CaO promoted H2 and CO2 yields and reduced tars, meaning that CaO mainly acted as a catalyst at the examined conditions at examined temperatures. Correlations between gas products and three operating parameters: temperature, CaO-to-PET ratio, and steam-to-PET ratio were fitted with the help of response surface methodology, and the gas yields were predicted well. Publication 3 studied the solarassisted Ca looping process and obtained the optimized combined temperatures of carbonation 650 °C and calcination 850 °C to minimize CaO deactivation and maximize the energy-carrying capacity, considering a reasonable mass flow rate between the solar calciner and the gasifier. Publication 4 discovered that the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system were 60%–70% for both day and night modes. The annual production of H2 and benzene were 684 t and 6286 t, respectively, with an annual 19 kt of PET feedstock and capturing 21 kt of CO2. The project is feasible when the benzene price is greater than 1092 €/t and the CO2 prices are higher than 80 - 120 €/t. The results show that there is a potential to implement solar-assisted SEG of PET plastic waste to produce H2 and other valuable chemicals. This research provides a novel method for PET plastic waste upcycling sustainably with zero CO2 emission and a renewable heat source without burning additional fuels to achieve the zero plastic waste goal in the future."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/129774"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Aalto University","Aalto-yliopisto"],"dc:title":["Solar-assisted sorption-enhanced gasification of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste - Experimentation and process modelling"],"dc:type":["G5 Artikkeliväitöskirja"],"dc:type.dcmitype":["text"]},"updated_at":"2026-08-21T16:42:07Z"}