Abstract:The orange oil was extracted from orange peel by steam distillation. The orange oil was used as solvent and ethanol as precipitant to recover the expanded polystyrene with process condition optimized by orthogonal experiment. Then some properties of the recovered expanded polystyrene were tested. The results of range analyses showed that the optimum process parameters for expanded polystyrene recovering were particle size of EPS being 0.5 mm, the ratio of orange oil and expanded polystyrene being 2:1, and the ratio of orange oil and precipitant being 1:1 with the recovery rate of expanded polystyrene reaching 90.4%. The results of ANOVA analyses showed that the ratio of orange oil and precipitant had conspicuous effects on recovery rate. However, particle size and the ratio of orange oil and precipitant had no obvious effects on recovery rate. The color, density and glass transition temperature of recovered expanded polystyrene demonstrated no obvious changes compared to standard substance except for the light orange fragrance.