Brazilian Journal

of Chemical ISSN 0104-6632

Engineering Printed in Brazil
www.abeq.org.br/bjche

Vol. 28, No. 04, pp. 659 - 667, October - December, 2011

RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON LIQUID FROM

WASTE HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE BY
THERMAL PYROLYSIS
Sachin Kumar* and R. K. Singh
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Phone: 91-6612462260,
Fax: 91-6612462022, Rourkela, Orissa, 769008, India.
E-mail: sachin044@gmail.com

(Submitted: February 22, 2011 ; Revised: May 12, 2011 ; Accepted: August 23, 2011)

Abstract - Thermal degradation of waste plastics in an inert atmosphere has been regarded as a productive
method, because this process can convert waste plastics into hydrocarbons that can be used either as fuels or
as a source of chemicals. In this work, waste high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic was chosen as the
material for pyrolysis. A simple pyrolysis reactor system has been used to pyrolyse waste HDPE with the
objective of optimizing the liquid product yield at a temperature range of 400ºC to 550ºC. Results of pyrolysis
experiments showed that, at a temperature of 450ºC and below, the major product of the pyrolysis was oily
liquid which became a viscous liquid or waxy solid at temperatures above 475ºC. The yield of the liquid
fraction obtained increased with the residence time for waste HDPE. The liquid fractions obtained were
analyzed for composition using FTIR and GC-MS. The physical properties of the pyrolytic oil show the
presence of a mixture of different fuel fractions such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel in the oil.
Keywords: Pyrolysis; Waste HDPE; FTIR; GC-MS; Alternative fuel.

INTRODUCTION production of waste HDPE has led to the

accumulation of large amount of its waste in the final
Plastics are one of the most widely used materials waste stream due to its low useful life.
due to their various advantages and numerous Recycling of plastics already occurs on a wide
applications in our day to day life. Plastics scale. Extensive recycling and reprocessing of
production has increased by an average of almost plastics are performed on homogeneous and
10% every year on a global basis since 1950. The contaminant free plastic wastes. Most recycling
total global production of plastics has grown from schemes require a feedstock that is reasonably pure
around 1.3 million tonnes (MT) in 1950 to 230 MT and contains only items made from a single polymer
in 2009 (Plastic-The facts 2010). HDPE is the third- type, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE)
largest commodity plastic material in the world, after commonly used to make milk bottles, or
polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene in terms of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) soft drink bottles.
volume. According to a British market-research However, a substantial fraction of the plastics in
consulting agency, “Merchant Research & municipal waste still ends up in landfills.
Consulting Ltd.” High density polyethylene (HDPE) Realistically, most post-consumer wastes contain a
has accounted for a major share of ethylene mixture of plastic types and are often contaminated
consumption in the recent years. The demand for with non-plastic items (Hegberg et al., 1992).
HDPE has increased 4.4% a year to 31.3 million MT An alternative thermal approach for dealing with
in 2009 (CEH report). The increased demand and waste plastics is the so-called chemical feedstock or

*To whom correspondence should be addressed

660 Sachin Kumar and R. K. Singh

chemical recycling. This term has been used to vessel reactor without stirring, in the temperature
describe a diversity of techniques, including range 200–600°C.
pyrolysis, hydrolysis, hydrogenation, methanolysis The catalytic upgrading of the pyrolysis gases
and gasification. Some of these techniques are derived from the pyrolysis of polyethylene over
suitable for use only with homogeneous polymer zeolite in the temperature range 400–600°C has been
wastes but others can accept a feed of mixed wastes. investigated by Bagri et al. (2002). As the zeolite
The most attractive technique of chemical feedstock bed temperature was increased, the gas yield
recycling is pyrolysis. Thermal cracking or thermal increased with a decrease in oil and coke yield.
pyrolysis involves the degradation of the polymeric Venuto et al. (1979) also showed that, as the catalyst
materials by heating in the absence of oxygen. temperature was increased from 480 to 590°C, coke
Unlike mechanical recycling techniques, in which formation in the zeolite catalytic cracking of
the long polymeric chains of the plastic are preserved petroleum was reduced and also alkene gases
intact, pyrolysis produces lower molecular weight increased in the gas product. Sharratt et al. (1997)
fragments The process is usually conducted at carried out the catalytic degradation of high-density
temperatures between 500-800°C and results in the polyethylene using ZSM-5 zeolite. As the reaction
formation of a carbonized char and a volatile fraction temperature was increased from 290 to 430°C, the
that can be separated into condensable hydrocarbon gas yield was increased, whereas the oil yield was
oil and a non-condensable high calorific value gas. decreased. The oil obtained in the thermal pyrolysis
The proportion of each fraction and their precise of polyethylene contained a low concentration of
composition depend primarily on the nature of the aromatic compounds. The liquid-phase catalytic
plastic waste, but also on process conditions. The degradation of waste polyolefinic polymers such as
effect of temperature and the type of reactor on the HDPE, LDPE, and PP over spent fluid catalytic
pyrolysis of waste HDPE studied by different cracking (FCC) catalyst was carried out at
researchers are summarised below. atmospheric pressure in a stirred semi-batch
Wallis et al. (2007) performed the thermal operation by Lee et al. (2003). The difference in the
degradation of high density polyethylene in a product yields between thermal and catalytic
reactive extruder at various screw speeds with degradation of waste HDPE using spent FCC
reaction temperatures of 400°C and 425°C. A catalyst in a stirred semi-batch reactor on a
continuous kinetic model was used to describe the laboratory scale was studied by Lee et al. (2003). As
degradation of the high density polyethylene in the compared with thermal degradation, the catalytic
reactive extruder. Conesa et al. (1994) studied the degradation showed an increase of liquid yield,
production of gases from polyethylene (HDPE) at whereas that of residue was reduced due to the
five nominal temperatures (ranging from 500°C to decomposition of heavier residues into lighter oil
900°C) using a fluidized sand bed reactor. From the product.
study of HDPE pyrolysis in a fluidized sand bed Miskolczi et al. (2008) studied the catalytic
reactor, they have found that the yield of total gas degradation of waste high density polyethylene with
obtained increased in the range 500°C – 800°C from three different catalysts (equilibrium FCC, HZSM-5
5.7 to 94.5%, at higher temperatures. Walendziewski and clinoptilolite). Seo et al. (2003) studied the
et al. (2001) reported the thermal degradation of catalytic degradation of waste high density
polyethylene in the temperature range 370–450°C. In polyethylene to hydrocarbons by ZSM-5, zeolite-Y,
the case of thermal degradation of polyethylene, an mordenite and amorphous silica-alumina in a batch
increase in degradation temperature led to an reactor and investigated the cracking efficiency of
increase of gas and liquid products, but a decrease of catalysts by analyzing the oily products, including
residue (boiling point >360°C). paraffins, olefins, naphthenes and aromatics, with
The thermal degradation of waste HDPE can be gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).
improved by using suitable catalysts in order to The liquid-phase catalytic degradation of HDPE
obtain valuable products. The most common over BEA, FAU, MWW, MOR and MFI zeolites
catalysts used in this process are: zeolite, alumina, with different pores in a batch reactor at 380°C or
silica–alumina, FCC catalyst, reforming catalyst etc. 410°C has been studied by Park et al. (2002).
The effects of various catalysts on the pyrolysis of Sharratt et al. (1997) performed the pyrolysis of high
HDPE studied by different investigators are density polyethylene over HZSM-5 catalyst using a
summarized below. Beltrame et al. (1989) have specially developed laboratory fluidized bed reactor
studied polyethylene degradation over silica, operating isothermally at ambient pressure. The
alumina, silica–alumina and zeolites in a small Pyrex influence of reaction conditions, including

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering

 Recovery of Hydrocarbon Liquids from Waste High Density Polyethylene by Thermal Pyrolysis 661

temperature, ratios of HDPE to catalyst feed, and holding time on the reaction time and yield of liquid
flow rates of fluidizing gas, was examined. product, char, and gaseous product were studied. The
Manos et al. (2000) studied the catalytic fuel properties of the oil (obtained at a temperature
degradation of high density polyethylene of 450°C from pyrolysis of waste HDPE) such as
to hydrocarbons over different zeolites. The kinematic viscosity, flash point, fire point, cloud
product range was typically between C 3 and C 15 point, pour point, specific gravity, and water content
hydrocarbons. were determined using standard test methods. The
The catalytic pyrolysis of high density chemical compositions of the waste HDPE pyrolytic
polyethylene was studied at different times using oil were investigated using FTIR and GC/MS.
different types of reactors: a pyroprobe apparatus,
where the volatile residence time is in the range of
few milliseconds, and a fluidized bed reactor, where MATERIALS AND METHODS
the secondary reactions take place to a larger extent
using HZSM-5 catalyst (Hernandez et al., 2006). Waste HDPE was collected from the National
Garforth et al. (1998) studied the catalytic pyrolysis Institute of Technology Rourkela, Orissa, India
of high density polyethylene in a laboratory fluidized campus waste yard and used in this experiment. The
bed reactor operating in the 290°C-430°C range plastic waste was cut into small pieces (approx.
under atmospheric pressure. The catalysts used were 1 cm2) and used in the thermal pyrolysis reaction.
HZSM-5, Silicalite, HMOR, HUSY and SAHA and The proximate analysis of waste HDPE was done by
the yield of volatile hydrocarbons (based on the feed) ASTM D3173-75 and the ultimate analysis was done
was typically HZSM-5>HUSY≈HMOR>SAHA. by using a CHNS analyzer (ELEMENTAR VARIO
The catalytic degradation of high density EL CUBE CHNSO). Calorific value of the raw
polyethylene (HDPE) under nitrogen using a material was found by ASTM D5868-10a.
laboratory fluidized bed reactor operating at 360°C Thermogravimetric analysis of the waste HDPE
with a catalyst to polymer feed ratio of 2:1 and at sample was carried out with a SHIMADZU DTG-
450°C with a catalyst to polymer feed ratio of 6:1 60/60H instrument. A known weight of the sample
under atmospheric pressure using ZSM-5, US-Y, was heated in a silica crucible at a constant heating
ASA, fresh FCC (fluid catalytic cracking) rate of 20°C/min operating in a stream of air with a
commercial catalyst (Cat-A) and equilibrium FCC flow rate of 40ml/min from 35°C to 600°C.
catalysts with different levels of metal poisoning The pyrolysis setup used in this experiment is
were studied. (Ali et al., 2002). Mastral et al. (2006) shown in Figure 1. It consists of a semi batch reactor
studied the catalytic degradation of high density made of stainless steel tube (length- 145 mm,
polyethylene in a laboratory fluidized bed reactor at internal diameter- 37 mm and outer diameter-
mild temperatures, between 350°C and 550°C. The 41 mm) sealed at one end and an outlet tube at other
catalyst used was nanocrystalline HZSM-5 zeolite. end. The reactor is heated externally by an electric
Lin et al. (2004) studied the pyrolysis of high density furnace, with the temperature being measured by a
polyethylene over various catalysts using a Cr-Al: K type thermocouple fixed inside the reactor,
laboratory fluidized-bed reactor operating and temperature is controlled by an external PID
isothermally at ambient pressure. Karagoz et al. controller. 20g of waste plastics sample were loaded
(2003) studied the conversion of high density in each pyrolysis reaction. The condensable liquid
polyethylene in vacuum to fuels in the absence and products/wax were collected through the condenser
presence of five kinds of metals supported on active and weighed. After pyrolysis, the solid residue left
carbon catalysts (M-Ac) and acidic catalysts inside the reactor was weighed. Then the weight of
{HZSM-5 and DHC (Distillate Hydro Cracking-8)} gaseous/volatile product was calculated from the
catalyst. Jan et al. (2010) studied the degradation of material balance. Reactions were carried out at
waste high density polyethylene into a liquid fraction different temperatures ranging from 400-550°C.
thermally and catalytically using MgCO3 at 450°C in Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
a batch reactor. Different conditions like of the pyrolysis oil obtained at the optimum
temperature, time and catalyst ratio were optimized condition was performed with a Perkin-Elmer
for the maximum conversion of HDPE into a liquid Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer with
fraction. resolution of 4 cm-1, in the range of 400-4000 cm-1
In the present study, waste high density poly using Nujol mull as reference for the functional
ethylene was pyrolyzed in a batch reactor at a group composition. The components of the liquid
temperature of 400°C to 550°C at a heating rate of product were analyzed by GC-MS-QP 2010
20°C/min. The effect of pyrolytic temperature and [SHIMADZU] using flame ionization detector.

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol. 28, No. 04, pp. 659 - 667, October - December, 2011
662 Sachin Kumar and R. K. Singh

Figure 1: Pyrolysis setup

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION of a material as a function of temperature and time,

in a controlled environment. This can be very useful
Proximate and Ultimate Analysis of Waste HDPE to investigate the thermal stability of a material, or to
investigate its behavior in different atmospheres (e.g.
The proximate and ultimate analyses of waste inert or oxidizing). TGA was applied to study the
HDPE sample are shown in Table 1. The volatile thermal stability/degradation of waste HDPE in
matter is 100% in the proximate analysis, due to the various ranges of temperature. From the TGA curve
absence of ash in waste HDPE sample; its degradation shown in Figure 2, the waste HDPE degradation
occurs with minimal formation of residue. The oxygen started at 390°C and was complete at 490°C for a
is 5.19% in the ultimate analysis of waste HDPE. The heating rate of 20°C /min. the degradation
oxygen in the waste HDPE sample may not be due to temperature at which a weight loss of 50% (T50)
the fillers but rather to other ingredients that are added takes place was about 440°C for waste HDPE. A
to the resin in the manufacturing of HDPE. similar trend during HDPE decomposition by
TGA/DTG has been reported (Aboulkas et al. 2008).
Table 1: Proximate and ultimate analysis of waste The differential thermogravimetry (DTG) curve for
HDPE waste HDPE in Figure 3 contains only one peak, this
indicates that there is only one degradation step in
(HDPE) (Mixed Plastics) the dominant peak from 380°C to 470°C where the
Present study
Properties (Parikh et al., (Kim et al.,
(Waste HDPE)
2009) 2010)
conversion takes place. Though pyrolysis of
Proximate analysis
individual polymers has attracted much attention,
Moisture content 0.00 0.00 1.37
studies on pyrolysis behavior, particularly of mixed
Volatile matter 100 100 92.90 plastics, are rather scarce. Still, from the study
Fixed carbon 0.00 0.00 1.14 reported by Chattopadhyay et al. (2008), it can be
Ash content 0.00 0.00 4.59 deduced that the mixture of HDPE, PP and PET
Ultimate analysis
starts decomposing at about 250°C against 477°C for
Carbon (C) 80.58 84.95 79.9
Hydrogen (H) 13.98 14.30 12.6 pure HDPE (Zhou et al. 2006). The decompositions
Nitrogen (N) 0.60 0.55 - of these two plastic samples end at 521°C and
Sulphur (S) 0.080 - - 700°C, respectively. In the latter case, solid residue
Oxygen (O)/Others 5.19 0.20 5.10
Chlorine 1.13 seems to have formed due to the presence of PET.
GCV (Mj/Kg) 45.78 - 44.40 The addition of PP to HDPE has been reported
(Hwang et al., 2001) to improve the liquid yield
TGA and DTG Analysis of the Waste HDPE during the degradation in supercritical acetone
Sample (450°C to 470°C, and 60 atm to 100 atm). In the case
of catalytic decomposition, a reduction of 20°C was
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is a thermal reported (Lee et al. 2003) when LDPE, PP and PS
analysis technique that measures the weight change were present along with HDPE.

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering

 Recovery of Hydrocarbon Liquids from Waste High Density Polyethylene by Thermal Pyrolysis 663

Figure 2: TGA curve of waste HDPE Figure 3: DTG curve of waste HDPE

Effect of Temperature on Product Distribution the formation of less-cracked high molecular weight
wax and more non-condensable gaseous/volatile
The pyrolysis of HDPE yielded four different fractions due to rigorous cracking.
products, i.e., oil, wax, gas, and residue. The
distributions of these fractions are different at different Effect of Temperature on Reaction Time
temperatures and are shown in Table 2.
The effect of temperature on the reaction time
Table 2: Distribution of the different fractions at for the pyrolysis of waste HDPE plastic is shown in
different temperatures in the HDPE pyrolysis Figure 4. The pyrolysis reaction rate increased and
the reaction time decreased with an increase in
Gas/ Reaction temperature. High temperature supports the easy
Temperature Oil Wax Residue
volatile time
(°C) (wt.%) (wt.%) (wt.%) cleavage of bonds and thus speeds up the reaction
(wt.%) (min)
and lowers the reaction time. HDPE, with a long
400 11.2 0 84.2 4.6 760 linear polymer chain with low branching and a
450 23.96 0 72.24 3.8 290 high degree of crystallinity, led to high strength
500 21.87 50.38 24.75 3 68 properties and thus required more time for
550 7.86 71.22 18.42 2.5 54 decomposition. This shows that temperature has a
significant effect on reaction time and yield of
The condensable oil/wax and the non- liquid, wax and gaseous products.
condensable gas/volatiles fractions of the reaction
constituted the major product as compared to the Effect of Holding Time on Yield of Oil
solid residue fractions. The condensable product
obtained at low temperature (400°C and 450°C) was The effect of holding time on the yield of the oil
low viscous liquid. With an increase in temperature, is shown in Figure 5. The reaction was carried out by
the liquid became a viscous/wax at and above 475°C. keeping the plastics in the reactor at 400°C with
The formation of a viscous and waxy product was different holding times from 1-6 hours, followed by
due to improper cracking of the plastic to high an increase of the reaction temp to 450°C. It was
molecular mass hydrocarbon components. The observed that this additional reaction phase increased
recovery of the condensable fraction was very low at the oil yield from 23% to 28% for a 1 hour holding
low temperature, i.e., at 400°C, and increased with a time and to 50.8% with a 4 hour holding time, but
gradual increase of temperature. From the table, it is then decreased gradually with further increase in the
observed that, at low temperature, the reaction time holding time. The introduction of this reaction phase
was longer, due to secondary cracking of the loosens the polymer bonds that are easily cleaved to
pyrolysis product that occurred inside the reactor, liquid hydrocarbons, which leave the outlet at 450°C
which resulted in highly volatile product. Similarly, without being converted to gas due to the decrease in
the low liquid yield at high temperature was due to reaction time compared to 400°C.

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol. 28, No. 04, pp. 659 - 667, October - December, 2011
664 Sachin Kumar and R. K. Singh

30 250 55
Reaction Time Temperature= 450°C
750 Reaction Time
weight of Oil/wax weight of Oil
50
25
Reaction Time (mins)

Reaction Time (mins)

600 200
45

Wt. % of Oil

Weight % of Oil
20
450
150 40
15
300
35

10 100
150 30

5
400 450 500 550 0 2 4 6
Temperature (°C) Holding Time (hrs) at Temperature 400°C
 
Figure 4: Effect of temperature on the reaction time Figure 5: Effect of holding time on the yield of the oil.

FTIR of Oil Samples presence of mostly alkanes and alkenes. The results
were consistent with the results of GC-MS.
Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is
an important analysis technique that detects various GC-MS of the Oil Sample
characteristic functional groups present in oil. Upon
interaction of infrared light with oil, chemical bonds can The GC-MS analysis of the oil sample obtained
absorb infrared radiation in specific wavelength ranges from waste HDPE was carried out to verify the exact
regardless of the structure of the rest of the molecules. composition of the oil (Figure 7) and is summarized
Figure 6 shows the FTIR spectra of waste HDPE oil. in the Table 4. The components present in HDPE are
The different assignments of the FTIR spectra of waste mostly aliphatic hydrocarbons (alkane and alkenes)
HDPE oil are summarized in Table 3, which shows the with carbon number C9-C24.

140

120

100
%Transmittance

80

60

40

20

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

-1
Wavelength (cm )

Figure 6: FTIR spectrum of the oil that was obtained at 450°C

Table 3: FTIR assignments of waste HDPE oil obtained at 450°C

Wave number (cm -1) Type of vibration Nature of functional group
2955/2916 C-H stretching Alkane
1373 C-H Scissoring and Bending Alkane
2851 C-H stretching Alkane
1642 C=C stretching Alkene/fingerprint region
1462 C=C stretching Alkene/fingerprint region
991 C-H Bending Alkene
908 C-H out-of-plane bending Alkene
720 C-H bend Alkenes Bands

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering

 Recovery of Hydrocarbon Liquids from Waste High Density Polyethylene by Thermal Pyrolysis 665

Figure 7: GC/MS chromatogram of the oil that was obtained at 450°C

Table 4: GC-MS composition of oil obtained at 450°C
R. Time (min) Area % Name of compound Molecular formula
3.051 1.55 1-Nonene C9H18
3.152 0.93 Nonane C9H20
4.435 2.63 1-Decene C10H20
4.463 1.23 Decane C10H22
5.974 3.02 1-Undecene C11H22
6.106 1.74 Undecane C11H24
7.505 3.34 1-Dodecene C12H24
7.629 2.27 Dodecane C12H26
8.962 3.90 1-Tridecene C13H26
9.076 2.51 Tridecane C13H28
10.336 4.73 1-Tetradecene C14H28
10.440 2.87 Tetradecane C14H30
11.628 4.86 1-Pentadecene C15H30
11.724 3.22 Pentadecane C15H32
12.848 5.00 1-Octadecene C18H36
12.934 3.70 Hexadecane C16H34
14.001 4.94 1-Heptadecene C17H34
14.082 3.65 Hexadecane C16H34
15.098 4.71 1-Nonadecene C19H38
15.170 3.74 Hexadeane C16H34
16.141 4.38 1-Nonadecene C19H38
16.207 3.65 Hexadecane C16H34
17.133 3.79 1-Nonadecene C19H38
17.194 3.21 Eicosane C20H42
18.083 3.15 1-Nonadecene C19H38
18.140 2.92 Heneicosane C21H44
18.991 2.51 1-Nonadecene C19H38
19.042 2.48 Docosane C22H46
19.863 1.95 1-Nonadecene C19H38
19.909 1.95 Tricosane C23H48
20.699 1.26 1-Nonadecene C19H38
20.740 1.29 Tetracosane C24H50
21.502 0.92 1-Nonadecene C19H38
21.539 0.64 Docosane C22H46
22.275 0.47 n-Tetracosanol-1 C24H50O
22.308 0.37 Tetracosane C24H50
23.019 0.28 1-Nonadecene C19H38
25.051 0.22 4,6-Dimethyldodecane C14H30

Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol. 28, No. 04, pp. 659 - 667, October - December, 2011
666 Sachin Kumar and R. K. Singh

Table 5: Physical properties of HDPE pyrolytic oil sample

Tests Results Obtained Test method

Specific Gravity @ 15°C /15°C 0.7835 IS:1448 P:16
Density @ 15°C in kg/cc 0.7828 IS:1448 P:16
Kinematic Viscosity @ 40°C in Cst 1.63 IS:1448 P:25
Kinematic Viscosity @ 100°C in Cst 0.89 IS:1448 P:25
Viscosity Index Not Available IS:1448 P:56
Conradson Carbon Residue 0.01% IS:1448 P:122
Flash Point by Abel Method Plus 1°C IS:1448 P:20
Fire Point Plus 7°C IS:1448 P:20
Cloud Point Minus 4°C IS:1448 P:10
Pour Point Minus 15°C IS:1448 P:10
Gross Calorific Value in Kcal/Kg 10244 IS:1448 P:6
Sulphur Content 0.019% IS:1448 P:33
Calculated Cetane Index (CCI) 61 IS:1448 P:9
Distillation: IS:1448 P:18
Initial Boiling Point 82°C
10% Recovery 126°C
30% Recovery 188°C
50% Recovery 226°C
70% Recovery 278°C
90% Recovery 320°C
95% Recovery 340°C
Final Boiling Point 352°C
Residue 1.50 mL
Loss 0.50%

Physical Properties of the Oil Sample HDPE to liquid hydrocarbon products with a
significant yield, which varies with temperature.
Table 5 shows the results of physical property
analysis of the oil obtained from pyrolysis of waste
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Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol. 28, No. 04, pp. 659 - 667, October - December, 2011