Abstract
In order to examine possibility of energy recycling of waste PET-bottles, a commercial LPG-fueled ceramic burner has first been improved to burn PET-resin powder as an auxiliary fuel. In this paper, under the fixed conditions of a total heat input of 11.6 kW and an overall equivalence ratio of 0.8,combustion characteristics of the improved burner are experimentally investigated both in the open atmosphere an in the model furnace by varying a replacement rate of PET-powder up to 55%. According to the results obtained in the open atmosphere burner operation, it is found that the improved burner leaves an appreciable amount of PET-powder unburnt, due to insufficient heat supply during the passage of PET-powder within the burner tile and intense cooling, and that the unburnt rate increases in proportional to the replacement rate. In the in-furnace operation, on the other hand, no PET-powder is detected after the operation under a replacement rate of 30%, and the improved burner exhibits fine combustion properties comparable to the original LPG-fueled ceramic burner, being experimental certification of possibility and availability of the proposed idea.
