Pyrolysis products of uncoated printing and writing paper of MSW

Uncoated printing and writing paper, one of the principal waste papers in Taiwan, was pyrolyzed with a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reaction system. The pyrolysis experiments were carried out in nitrogen environment at a constant heating rate of 5 K min−1. The gaseous products and the residues were collected at room temperature (300 K) and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and elemental analyzer, respectively. The major gaseous products investigated included non-hydrocarbons (H2, CO, CO2, and H2O) and hydrocarbons (C1–3, C4, C5, C6, 1-ring, C10–12, levoglucosan, C13–15, and C16–18). The cumulated masses and the instantaneous concentrations of gaseous products were obtained under the experimental conditions. The yields of non-hydrocarbon gases and of hydrocarbon gases were about 10.46 and 0.49% at 623 K, 33.68 and 0.89% at 700 K, 64.52 and 1.05% at 788 K, and 79.10 and 1.63% at 938 K, respectively. The estimation of the mass of tar, yielded at various pyrolysis temperatures was also made. The results of this study might be useful for the design of pyrolysis process as well as for determining the pyrolysis mechanisms of the uncoated printing and writing paper.