On the Intrinsic Reaction Kinetics of Polypropylene Pyrolysis

The growing global plastic waste challenge requires the development of new plastic waste management strategies such as pyrolysis that will enable a circular plastic economy. Pyrolyzed plastics thermally convert into a complex mixture of intermediates and products that includes their constituent monomers. Developing optimized, scalable pyrolysis reactors capable of maximizing the yield of desired olefinic products requires a fundamental understanding of plastic pyrolysis mechanisms and reaction kinetics. Accordingly, the intrinsic reaction kinetics of polypropylene (PP) pyrolysis have been evaluated by the method of Pulse-Heated Analysis of Solid Reactions (PHASR), which enables the time-resolved measurement of pyrolysis kinetics at high temperature absent heat and mass transfer limitations. The yield of gas chromatography-detectable light species (