ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a period of high consumption of protective masks and an increase in their waste. Therefore, it was necessary to look at possibilities for their disposal. This article is focused on the disposal of FFP2 masks in the form of pellets blended with sawdust. Further, their ash melting behavior was observed. The method of ash preparation can impact the resulting values of melting temperatures. Therefore, this article investigates the resulting values of ash melting temperatures determined during different ash preparations, such as temperatures (550 °C and 815 °C) and ash size (non-sifted, smaller than 50 µm and 100 µm). All measured deformation temperatures were higher than 1100 °C and even higher than 1200 °C for some samples. Moreover, the presence of FFP2 masks in pellets only insignificantly affected the values of melting temperatures compared to pure wood pellets. The measured values also showed that increasing the temperature of ash preparation from 550 to 815 °C can increase the resulting values of melting temperature. The most significant proportion of the fraction size on the resulting melting temperatures was observed for beech with 5% and 10% of masks at an ash temperature of 550 °C and for spruce with 10% of masks at an ash temperature of 815 °C. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused huge health and economic damages. Various protective face masks, such as single-use, cotton, and the most widespread FFP2 or KN95 masks, are used to prevent the spread of this virus. However, these face masks are usually packaged in plastic packaging, which increases the amount of plastic waste. Plastic gloves are also often used in the connection of the pandemic. All this leads to a large production of protective equipment, but their use contributes to the increase of this type of waste, which presents a new challenge in waste management. This article investigates a complete element analysis of these mentioned materials and observes potential harmful substances. Further, pellets, as a potential fuel for combustion or pyrolysis purposes, were produced with the content of 5% and 10% of face masks. FFP2 were firstly separated from ear straps and wires, then disintegrated, added to spruce sawdust, and compressed into pellets. A series of experiments were realized and aimed at elemental, thermogravimetric, and calorific value analyses of produced pellets. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the presence of face masks FFP2 in pellets increases the content of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, volatile matter, and calorific values, but decreases the content of fixed carbon. According to elemental analysis of produced pellets, no significant amounts of harmful elements were found. © 2023 The Author(s)