High Speed Flow Visualization of Primary Breakup Phenomenon of Pyrolysis Oil-diesel Blend Using Air-assisted Atomizer

The energy crisis poses major difficulties for humanity, yet it also brings chances for innovation, sustainability, and a shift towards a more environmentally friendly and fairer future. Transforming waste into energy is a sustainable solution for a greener future. The present study focuses on energy generation through pyrolysis of 3-ply disposable polypropylene facemask. Thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry as well as proximate and ultimate analyses were conducted on the sample to identify compounds and thermal behavior of the sample. The activation energy of decomposition was calculated through a chemical kinetic study using 3 different methods, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose, Ozawa-Flynn-Wall, and Starink model and was found out to be 178.17, 190.06 and 178.67 kJ, respectively. Thermodynamic properties like enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy was determined to be 132.661, -0.01712, 143.019 kJ/mol. Highly viscous pyrolysis-oil and char were produced through pyrolysis process. The spray generated using an air-assisted atomizer measured the combustion. Miniature air assisted atomizer was designed and fabricated for high-speed flow visualization. The experimentation part of the study was carried out using high speed camera (10,000 frames per second) and the results were processed and analyzed for determination of breakup length, spray angle, critical wavelength and breakup frequency. The study suggests that the advanced synthetic fuel (pyrolysis oil- diesel blend) generated from facemask could become a potential source of energy production adhering to waste to energy strategy.