Due to depleting fossil fuel sources, plastic-derived fuel oil (PDFO) has received much attention over the past decade as an alternative to conventional diesel oil. Although several researchers have reported the properties of PDFO and recommended its usage in diesel engines, no study has thoroughly compared it with conventional diesel oil. This study aims at comparing PDFO produced from pyrolysis of waste plastic (LDPE, HDPE, PS, and PP) with conventional diesel oil based on a number of quality parameters and energy recovery potential. The quality parameters of color and appearance, water content, density, viscosity, volatility, copper strip corrosion, flash point, pour point, and energy content, as well as the cetane index of the fuels, were assessed following ASTM standards. The obtained results indicated no significant difference between the water contents and densities of the fuel oils. Pensky–Martens Closed Cup (PMCC) flash point for PDFO was significantly lower than that of conventional diesel oil. Although the pour points and viscosities of PDFO were significantly different from conventional diesel oil, the values were within the recommended range. All the PDFO types had higher volatilities than conventional diesel oil in the lighter section of the distillation curve, whereas no significant difference was detected in the heavier section. On the ASTM corrosion chart, conventional diesel oil belongs to class 1a, whereas all the PDFO types belong to class 2a. Energy recovery calculations revealed that PDFO has the potential to produce energy equivalent to 203,000 barrels of oil. It can be concluded that although PDFO has undesirable high volatility in the lighter section of the distillation curve and relatively low flash point, it compares relatively well with conventional diesel oil and thus is a potential substitute.

Graphic abstract

中文翻译：

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定性和能量回收潜力分析：塑料衍生燃料油与传统柴油

由于化石燃料资源的枯竭，塑料衍生燃料油 (PDFO) 作为传统柴油的替代品在过去十年中备受关注。尽管一些研究人员报告了 PDFO 的特性并推荐将其用于柴油发动机，但没有研究将其与传统柴油进行彻底比较。本研究旨在根据一些质量参数和能量回收潜力，将废塑料（LDPE、HDPE、PS 和 PP）热解产生的 PDFO 与传统柴油进行比较。燃料的颜色和外观、含水量、密度、粘度、挥发性、铜带腐蚀、闪点、倾点和能量含量以及十六烷指数等质量参数均按照 ASTM 标准进行评估。所得结果表明燃料油的水含量和密度之间没有显着差异。PDFO 的 Pensky-Martens 闭杯 (PMCC) 闪点明显低于传统柴油。尽管 PDFO 的倾点和粘度与传统柴油有显着差异，但这些值均在推荐范围内。在蒸馏曲线的较轻部分，所有 PDFO 类型的挥发性都高于常规柴油，而在较重部分未检测到显着差异。在 ASTM 腐蚀图表上，常规柴油属于 1a 类，而所有 PDFO 类型都属于 2a 类。能量回收计算表明，PDFO 有可能产生相当于 203,000 桶石油的能量。

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