Co-pyrolysis of medical protective clothing and oil palm wastes for biofuel: Experimental, techno-economic, and environmental analyses

Guangcan Su; Nurin Wahidah Mohd Zulkifli; Hwai Chyuan Ong; Shaliza Ibrahim; Mei Yee Cheah; Ruonan Zhu; Quan Bu

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2023.127221

Co-pyrolysis of medical protective clothing and oil palm wastes for biofuel: Experimental, techno-economic, and environmental analyses

Energy (Oxf). 2023 Jun 15:273:127221. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2023.127221. Epub 2023 Mar 15.

Authors

Guangcan Su^{1

2}, Nurin Wahidah Mohd Zulkifli^{1

2}, Hwai Chyuan Ong^{3

4}, Shaliza Ibrahim⁵, Mei Yee Cheah^{1

2}, Ruonan Zhu⁶, Quan Bu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
² Centre for Energy Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
³ Future Technology Research Center, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, 123 University Road, Section 3, Douliou, Yunlin, 64002, Taiwan.
⁴ Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁵ Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
⁶ Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, China.

Abstract

The ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19 has devastatingly influenced the environment, society, and economy around the world. Numerous medical resources are used to inhibit the infectious transmission of the virus, resulting in massive medical waste. This study proposes a sustainable and environment-friendly method to convert hazardous medical waste into valuable fuel products through pyrolysis. Medical protective clothing (MPC), a typical medical waste from COVID-19, was utilized for co-pyrolysis with oil palm wastes (OPWs). The utilization of MPC improved the bio-oil properties in OPWs pyrolysis. The addition of catalysts further ameliorated the bio-oil quality. HZSM-5 was more effective in producing hydrocarbons in bio-oil, and the relevant reaction pathway was proposed. Meanwhile, a project was simulated to co-produce bio-oil and electricity from the co-pyrolysis of OPWs and MPC from application perspectives. The techno-economic analysis indicated that the project was economically feasible, and the payback period was 6.30-8.75 years. Moreover, it was also environmentally benign as its global warming potential varied from -211.13 to -90.76 kg CO₂-eq/t. Therefore, converting MPC and OPWs into biofuel and electricity through co-pyrolysis is a green, economic, and sustainable method that can decrease waste, produce valuable fuel products, and achieve remarkable economic and environmental benefits.

Keywords: Co-pyrolysis; Life-cycle assessment; Medical waste; Oil palm wastes; Techno-economic analysis.