Aerosol and Air Quality Research : 20 (DocId: 10) 2226–2238.
Polystyrene foam (PSF), which is widely used in oyster farming in Taiwan, generates approximately 120,000-200,000 pieces of floating waste annually. The issues related to processing this waste, however, include the financial cost, incinerator clogs, human exposure to carcinogenic and non-biodegradable components, and potential debris, which threatens the seashore. In this study, we obtained methane (CH4) and hydrogen (H-2), two crucial gases in power generation, by treating PSF waste with an atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma reactor. Substituting argon with nitrogen as the carrier gas and increasing the microwave power (1200 W) produced a higher concentration of H-2 (4739 ppm) but a lower one of CH4 (less than 300 ppm). Treating a larger quantity of waste (0.2 g) resulted in CH4 and H-2 levels of 19,657 ppm and 440 ppm, respectively. SEM-EDX and XRD testing confirmed the transformation of the PSF structure and a reduction in carbon (C) content in the final residue. This research demonstrates how solid waste can be recycled into valuable gases by applying plasma technology.