Co-Carbonization of Discard Coal with Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate towards the Preparation of Metallurgical Coke

Waste plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (w-PET) and stockpiled discard coal (d-coal) pose a global environmental threat as they are disposed of in large quantities as solid waste into landfills and are particularly hazardous due to spontaneous combustion of d-coal that produces greenhouse gases (GHG) and the non-biodegradability of w-PET plastic products. This study reports on the development of a composite material, prepared from w-PET and d-coal, with physical and chemical properties similar to that of metallurgical coke. The w-PET/d-coal composite was synthesized via a co-carbonization process at 700 °C under a constant flow of nitrogen gas. Proximate analysis results showed that a carbonized w-PET/d-coal composite could attain up to 35% improvement in fixed carbon content compared to its d-coal counterpart, such that an initial fixed carbon content of 14–75% in carbonized discard coal could be improved to 49–86% in carbonized w-PET/d-coal composites. The results clearly demonstrate the role of d-coal ash on the degree of thermo-catalytic conversion of w-PET to solid carbon, showing that the yield of carbon derived from w-PET (i.e., c-PET) was proportional to the ash content of d-coal. Furthermore, the chemical and physical characterization of the composition and structure of the c-PET/d-coal composite showed evidence of mainly graphitized carbon and a post-carbonization caking ability similar to that of metallurgical coke. The results obtained in this study show potential for the use of waste raw materials, w-PET and d-coal, towards the development of an eco-friendly reductant with comparable chemical and physical properties to metallurgical coke.