Study on Incineration/ Pyrolysis/ Gasification Characteristics of Urethane/ Styrofoam Generated from Home Appliances Waste

According to the report of the Korean Association of Electronics Environment (KAEE), 1.44 million units of refrigerators, 1.15 million units of washing machines, 886 thousand units of televisions, and 327 thousand units of air conditioners were discarded in 2006. From such wastes more than 90 wt.% of valuable materials are recovered. Polyurethane/ styrofoam, used to reduce noise and thermally insulating agent in such electric appliances is hard to recycle and handle by any treatment processes. Urethane/ Styrofoam waste recycling consists of 3 parts material recycling, mechanical recycling and energy recycling. The material recycling involves shredding polyurethane for using as raw materials preparing various appliances. This is not easy however, active attempts are being made. The chemical recycling using thermal depolymerization is reduction from polyurethane to raw material polymer. The energy recycling is incineration of polyurethane for cogeneration, RDF (refuse dericed fuel) etc. Most of Urethane/ Styrofoam waste in Korea is sent to cement kilns as auxiliary fuel or is disposed off at landfill sites. Considering the limited landfill capacity and environmental problems associated to land filling, alternative treatment methods such as incineration, pyrolysis and gasification are evaluated for polyurethane/styrofoam disposal. In this study, we considered recovery and recycling of polyurethane/ styrofoam using 3 thermal treatment process (incineration, pyrolysis and gasification). The evaluation of 3 experimental conditions will suggest the energy recovery possibility and the hazard analysis of generated gas and residues. In addition, heating value of oil generated by pyrolysis will also be assessed. Results on possibility of energy recovery by analyzing syngas composition, heating value and carbon conversion efficiency during gasification experiment will also be presented. (author)