CONVERSIONOFWASTE

PLASTICINTOFUEL

SUBMITTEDBY
PrateekJain(11375)
CONTENTS
Whatiswastetofuel
Technologiesused

Pyrolysis

Principalofpyrolysis

Processofpyrolysis

Partsofpyrolysismachine

Advantages
WASTETOFUEL
Wastetoenergyorenergyfromwasteisthe
processofgeneratingenergyintheformof
electricity,heatorfuelfromwaste.

WtEisaformofenergyrecovery.

MostWtEprocessesproduceenergydirectly
throughcombustion,orproduceacombustible
fuelcommodity,suchasmethane,methanol,
ethanolorsyntheticfuels.
WTEPLANTSAROUNDTHEWORLD
LeeCountySolidWaste
ResourceRecoveryFacil
ity
,FortMyers,Florida,USA
(1994)
MontgomeryCountyReso

urceRecoveryFacility
inDickerson,Maryland
,USA(1995)
AlgonquinPower,

Brampton,Ontario,
Canada
BurnabyWastetoEnergy
Facility,
MetroVancouver,
PROBLEMTOCONVENTIONALTECHNOLOGIES
PYROLYSISOFPLASTIC
Pyrolysisisaprocessofthermaldegradationof
plasticsintheabsenceofoxygen.
PRINCIPALOFPYROLYSIS
Allplasticsarepolymersmostlycontainingcarbonand
hydrogenandfewotherelementslikechlorine,nitrogen,etc.
Whenthislongchainofpolymersbreaksatcertainpoints,or

whenlowermolecularweightfractionsareformed,thisis
termedasdegradationofpolymers.Thisisreverseof
polymerizationordepolymerization.
Ifsuchbreakingoflongpolymericchainorscissionofbonds

occursrandomly,itiscalledRandomdepolymerization.Here
thepolymerdegradestolowermolecularfragments.
Intheprocessofconversionofwasteplasticsintofuels,random

depolymerizationiscarriedoutinaspeciallydesignedreactorin
theabsenceofoxygenandinthepresenceofcoalandcertain
catalyticadditives.Themaximumreactiontemperatureis
350C.
Thereistotalconversionofwasteplasticsintovalueaddedfuel

products.
PROCESS
Theprocessconsistsoftwosteps:

i)Randomdepolymerization
Undercontrolledreactionconditions,plasticsmaterials
undergorandomdepolymerizationandareconvertedintothree
products:
a)SolidFueli.e.,Coke
b)LiquidFueli.e.,CombinationofGasoline,Kerosene,Diesel
andLubeOil
c)GaseousFueli.e.,LPGrangegas
ii)FractionalDistillation
Separationofvariousliquidfuelsbyvirtueofthedifferencein
theirboilingpoints.
Oneimportantfactorofthequalityoftheliquidfuelisthatthe
sulphurcontentislessthan0.002ppmwhichismuchlower
thanthelevelfoundinregularfuel.
LaboratorySetup
PARTSOFMACHINE
Reactor:vesselinwhichreactiontakeplace.
CATALYTICCRACKER
Catalyticcrackingisthebreakingoflarge
hydrocarbonmoleculesintosmallerandmore
usefulbits.
Thecrackermustbedesignedinsuchawaythat
thevapourfromthereactormusthavemaximum
surfacecontactwiththecatalyst.
Thecatalystwillactasamolecularsievewhich
permitsthepassageofsmallmolecules.
Thehydrocarbonmoleculesarebrokenupina
fairlyrandomwaytoproducemixturesofsmaller
hydrocarbons,someofwhichhavecarboncarbon
doublebonds.
CATALYSTUSED

ZSM5, Zeolite Socony Mobil5, is an

aluminosilicatezeolite belonging to the pentasil
familyofzeolites.
Its chemical formula is NanAlnSi96
nO19216H2O(0<n<27).
ZSM5catalystwasfirstsynthesizedbyArgauer
andLandoltin1972.
Patented by Mobil Oil Company in 1975, it is
widely used in the petroleum industry as a
heterogeneous catalyst for
hydrocarbonisomerizationreactions.
ZSM5
CATALYST
CONDENSER

Itisthepartofmachinewhich
condensesthevapourscoming
outfromthecatalyticcracker.
Thecondensermustcondense
theveryhotvaporsinan
efficientmannertogivethe
condensate
Clogginginthecondenser
mustbeprevented.
Thiscanbeachievedby
increasingthediameterofthe
pipe.
Inthismachine,weareusing
aspiralcondensertoincrease
theefficiencyofcondensation
NITROGENCYLINDER
cylinderisattachedtothe
reactor.
Usedtoprovideinert
atmosphereinthereactor
bypumpingnitrogenfrom
nitrogencylinder.
Purpose:plasticfeed
shouldnotburninsteadit
shouldmeltathigh
temperatureinsidethe
reactor.
ADVANTAGES

Problemofdisposalofwasteplasticissolved.
Wasteplasticisconvertedintohighvaluefuels.

Environmentalpollutioniscontrolled.

Industrialandautomobilefuelrequirementshall
befulfilledtosomeextentatlowerprice.
Nopollutantsarecreatedduringcrackingof
plastics.
Thecrudeoilandthegascanbeusedfor
generationofelectricity
THANK YOU