Key points:
- Researchers are investigating ways to turn face mask garbage into an eco-friendly alternative.
- Applying advanced gasification techniques, they successfully converted the shredded masks into synthetic gas with a high abundance of hydrogen.
- The researchers believe their proposed method for surgical mask waste recycling has a high potential to be commercialized.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of tons of used surgical masks were dumped every month without a real vision to manage them. With masks a thing of the past (for now), researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and the Lithuanian Energy Institute are investigating how to leverage the garbage into an eco-friendly solution.
After conducting a series of experiments, they obtained synthetic gas (aka syngas) with a high abundance of hydrogen.
For the conversion of surgical masks, the researchers applied plasma gasification on defective FFP2 face masks, which were shredded beforehand into a uniform particle size, and then converted to granules that could be easily controlled during treatment. The highest yield of hydrogen was obtained at an S/C (steam-to-carbon ratio) of 1.45. Overall, the obtained syngas showed a 42% higher heating value than that produced from biomass.
Yousef’s research team specifically focuses on recycling and waste management. In their prior work, they have conducted pyrolysis experiments on cigarette butts, used wind turbine blades, and textile waste, which have all shown promising results for upscaling and commercialization. Yet, this time, for the recycling of surgical masks, a different method was applied.
“Gasification is a traditional waste management technique. Different from pyrolysis—which is still a new and developing method—we don’t need much investment in developing infrastructure. Arc plasma gasification, which we have applied for the decomposition of surgical masks, means that under high temperatures generated by arc plasma, we can decompose face masks to gas within a few seconds. In pyrolysis, it takes up to an hour to get the final product. In advanced gasification, the process is almost instantaneous,” explains Samy Yousef, a chief researcher at Kaunas University of Technology.
Additionally, advanced gasification techniques, such as plasma gasification, are more efficient in obtaining a better concentration of hydrogen (up to 50%) within synthetic gas production. Moreover, plasma gasification decreases the amount of tar in the syngas, which makes its quality higher.
The researchers believe their proposed method for surgical mask waste recycling has a high potential to be commercialized.