Energy and exergy performances of low-density polyethylene plastic particles assisted by microwave heating

Plastic waste can exist naturally for hundreds of thousands of years and harm humans, animals, and the environment. In this study, the energy and exergy performances (absorbed energy, energy efficiency, absorbed exergy, and exergy efficiency) of LDPE (low-density polyethylene) plastic particles assisted by microwave heating based on the experimental data as affected by microwave power, feeding load, and chamber volume were evaluated and analyzed. The results showed that as the microwave power raised from 500 to 900 W, the feeding load changed from 10 to 30 g, and the chamber volume decreased from 200 to 100 ml, (a) the absorbed energy at the heating time of 60 min increased from 19.73 kJ, 5.84 kJ, and 22.71 kJ to 37.69 kJ; (b) the energy efficiency for the whole heating process increased from 1.10%, 0.32%, and 1.26% to 2.09%; (c) the absorbed exergy at the heating time of 60 min increased from 0.308, 0.091, and 0.091 to 0.724 kJ; and (d) the exergy efficiency for the whole heating process increased from 0.017, 0.005, and 0.023 to 0.040%, respectively.