Modelling co-gasification of plastic waste and lignin in supercritical water using reactive molecular dynamics simulations

Supercritical gasification is a promising technology for the utilisation of biomass and plastic wastes. To further understand the synergistic effect of lignin and plastic co-gasification under the influence of supercritical water, the microscopic mechanism of the co-gasification of lignin and plastic in supercritical water was studi,􀀛d using reactive molecular dynamics simulations. The influence of temperature on the evolution behaviour of the carbon chains was also analysed. At low temperatures, lignin cracks slowly, whereas most polyethylene does not crack, and gas production yield is low. The quantity of supercritical water participating in gasification increases with increasing temperature, but there exists an upper limit to this increase. At hig h temperatures, the main gasification products include H2, CH4, CO and CO2.