Pyrolysis of waste polyethylene in a semi-batch reactor to produce liquid fuel: Optimization of operating conditions

This study investigated the interactive effects of temperature, residence time, and carrier gas flow rate on liquid fuel production through pyrolysis waste polyethylene (WPE) in a bench-scale semi-batch reactor. To enhance production, fifteen experiments were conducted based central composite design. The adaptive neural fuzzy model was adopted to establish relationship between operating conditions. R-squared value experimental predicted that 0.9934. Four additional results verified model's applicability. Subsequently, genetic algorithm (GA) optimize conditions maximize production. GA optimized (temperature, rate) were: 488 °C, 20 min, mL/min. under optimal analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). had similar main functional groups as diesel. components mainly 1-alkenes n-alkanes ranging from C7 C36. fractions mean molecular weight also investigated.