Combustion Kinetics and Emission Characteristics of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Polylactic Acid Combustion

Abstract

This study investigates the combustion kinetics and emission factors of 16 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in polylactic acid (PLA) combustion. Experimentally, two reactions are involved in the PLA combustion process that potentially result in the release of lactide, acetaldehyde, and n-hexaldehyde. The products may continuously be oxidized to form carbon dioxide (CO₂) and some PAHs produced because of incomplete combustion. The analytical results indicate that the emission factors for PAHs are in the range of not detectable to 98.04 μg/g. The emission factors are much lower than those of poly(ethylene terephalate) (PET) and other combustion of plastics. Results from this work suggest that combustion is a good choice for waste PLA disposal.