1. Deconstruction and valorisation of a mixture of personal protective equipment using hydrothermal processing.
- Author
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Javid, Faisal, Xin, Xing, Anderson, William A., Derraik, José G.B., Anderson, Yvonne C., and Baroutian, Saeid
- Subjects
PERSONAL protective equipment ,TOTAL suspended solids ,CHEMICAL oxygen demand ,MEDICAL masks ,DECONSTRUCTION - Abstract
[Display omitted] • Up to 93.8 % reduction of a mixture of PPE items was achieved. • Process water was effectively re-used for five reusability cycles. • Volatile fatty acids, predominantly acetic acid, up to 15625 mg/L were produced. • CO 2 and O 2 were the primary gaseous products in the off-gas stream. This study used non-catalytic hydrothermal deconstruction to examine the deconstruction of a mixture of numerous PPE items, including isolation gowns, gloves, goggles, face shields, surgical masks, and filtering-facepiece respirators. A mixture of PPE items was subjected to hydrothermal deconstruction at temperatures varying between 250 °C and 350 °C and reaction times of 90 min and 180 min, respectively. A reduction of up to 95 % was attained in the total suspended solids (TSS). The total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) decreased dramatically to 703 mg/L and 480 mg/L, respectively. Volatile fatty acids, mainly acetic acid and ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) were the primary end products with a concentration of up to 15,625 mg/L and 38 mg/L after 180 min of deconstruction, respectively. Carbon dioxide and oxygen were found to be the primary gaseous product, with a concentration of up to 14 % (w/w) for CO 2 and 76 % (w/w) for O 2. Further experiments were conducted at 300 °C and 350 °C to reuse process water for five cycles to demonstrate the feasibility of process water recycling. The results propose that non-catalytic hydrothermal deconstruction may potentially reduce PPE waste by minimising solid waste and water usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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