How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Its not clear from the pictures what the reaction is. Some of the rings seem to be a brownish colour, is that the reaction?

Sorry, in the larger discussion on my forum I explain that all three o-rings are of the same size 2mm x 10mm; and Silicone 70 o-rings are rust red in color; V75 Viton o-rings are dark gray; and Buna-N 70 o-rings are black.

The photograph does not reveal the color of the o-rings well/ I am working on a way to improve that, but color is not important. What is of importance is swelling only. And, swelling is revealed dramatically in a size change.

Silicone 70 o-rings swell dramatically when pure gum turpentine or alcohol are over a certain percentage in the fuel blend. Whereas, V75 Viton and Buna-N 70 o-rings do not swell.

However, V75 Viton and Buna-N 70 o-rings swell dramatically when acetone is over a certain percentage in the fuel blend Whereas, Silicone 70 o-rings do not swell.

So, when I conduct my o-ring test I immerse one o-ring of each material and of the same size into the fluid, or fuel blend, being tested. If none of the o-rings swell, then the fuel blend is safe to burn on any diesel engine.

Part of the take home message is if the offending solvent is simply diluted below a certain level, then swelling will not take place.

[palmtrees]

diesel

Welcome palmtrees
As you've been reading all the info on this thread, you'll now know that the cause of your wax from PE was a reflux problem. So it's easily fixed.

The strong smell is the same as distilled fuel from waste oil. I seem to remember reading about the oil companies having a process to scrub the fuel and remove the odor. It goes just the same but you don't want to get any on your clothes!

Hi Excalibur thanks for the info

[palmtrees]

diesel

Hi Palmtrees,
Your fuel is a mixture of waxes, diesel,kerosene and petrol. The best way to find out how much of each is to do the BP test to it. This is described a few pages back. Most engines will tolerate up to about 20% kerosene/petrol in their diesel fuel but if the BP test shows that you have more than that you would be best to separate off the lighter distillate and use it for something else. The wax , as Excalibur says, is a reflux problem and can be reduced by improving the design of your reactor.

Hi imakebiodiesel this fuel you can see is from just pp plastic there is no wax in this, you say about BP TEST to it there is so much info what do i need to do this , i also have a simple set up a reactor and a condenser i will take some pic let u see many thanks

[imakebiodiesel]

The BP test is described on pg 74 but I have reprinted it here.

THE BP TEST.

EQUIPMENT
A thermometer capable of measuring up to 300C ( available on Ebay at about 5 pounds sterling). An electric hotplate, a small saucepan or pot. A digital kitchen scales.
METHOD
A 100 gm sample of crude liquid fuel is placed in an open pot on an electric hotplate and brought up to 175C for 30 minutes in a well ventilated place. After that it is weighed and the missing grams are the petrol/gasoline content. The remaining sample is now heated to 260C for 30 minutes and weighed again. The missing grams are kerosene and the remaining weight is diesel.
TIPS,
30 minutes is usually enough but if the fuel is still bubbling vigorously after 30 minutes give it a bit longer.
Ventilate your workspace and dont spend any more time breathing the vapours than necessary.
Place a book or magazine on you digital scales to protect it from the heat.

[palmtrees]

The BP test is described on pg 74 but I have reprinted it here.

THE BP TEST.

EQUIPMENT
A thermometer capable of measuring up to 300C ( available on Ebay at about 5 pounds sterling). An electric hotplate, a small saucepan or pot. A digital kitchen scales.
METHOD
A 100 gm sample of crude liquid fuel is placed in an open pot on an electric hotplate and brought up to 175C for 30 minutes in a well ventilated place. After that it is weighed and the missing grams are the petrol/gasoline content. The remaining sample is now heated to 260C for 30 minutes and weighed again. The missing grams are kerosene and the remaining weight is diesel.
TIPS,
30 minutes is usually enough but if the fuel is still bubbling vigorously after 30 minutes give it a bit longer.
Ventilate your workspace and dont spend any more time breathing the vapours than necessary.
Place a book or magazine on you digital scales to protect it from the heat.

Thanks imakebiodiesel will get back to u when and let u know what the out come is, also with the the wax problem u said about a flux how far up from the reactor should it be and what goes in side it, about the cat should that go in front of the flux and how far away from it, also will it mater about putting some broken clay in the reactor as well to act like a cat

[imakebiodiesel]

Its impossible to give dimensions for a reflux tower It will depend entirely on the size of your retort, how well insulated it is, what its filled with, gas flow volume and velocity etc. Mine is a 3 inch diameter pipe, about 2 ft long packed with stainless steel wool. My catalyst is near the top. It might work better down in the hotter zone but that would make it more difficult to replace. Plastictrix and I had a discussion about reflux design about 10 pages back.

Putting pieces of broken clay into the retort will probably not have much catalytic effect but will be useful as boiling stones.

[Excalibur]

I was lucky that the 1st reflux I made gave me the temperature I was looking for. The temperature is the key to get the primary product you want. I believe that if you need higher temps, either move the reflux closer or insulate. To reduce, the opposite applies.
I have been in the habit of having reflux insulation to begin with, then as the temps approach target, I remove that insulation. The aim was to get the reflux up to temperature quickly and begin production sooner. When fuel is coming at full pace, the reflux is totally maintained by the heat of the retort. I needed no extra heat or cooling so I figure the balance was just right.

[palmtrees]

diesel

Its impossible to give dimensions for a reflux tower It will depend entirely on the size of your retort, how well insulated it is, what its filled with, gas flow volume and velocity etc. Mine is a 3 inch diameter pipe, about 2 ft long packed with stainless steel wool. My catalyst is near the top. It might work better down in the hotter zone but that would make it more difficult to replace. Plastictrix and I had a discussion about reflux design about 10 pages back.

Putting pieces of broken clay into the retort will probably not have much catalytic effect but will be useful as boiling stones.

Hi imakebiodiesel thank u for the info,

[palmtrees]

diesel

I was lucky that the 1st reflux I made gave me the temperature I was looking for. The temperature is the key to get the primary product you want. I believe that if you need higher temps, either move the reflux closer or insulate. To reduce, the opposite applies.
I have been in the habit of having reflux insulation to begin with, then as the temps approach target, I remove that insulation. The aim was to get the reflux up to temperature quickly and begin production sooner. When fuel is coming at full pace, the reflux is totally maintained by the heat of the retort. I needed no extra heat or cooling so I figure the balance was just right.

Hi Excalibur, do u have any pics or a video of your set up, also do u run your car on the fuel u make. and how long for and did you have any problems at all, i have try the fuel on my petrol leaf blower it runs a lot faster and blows a lot better then if it runs on petrol with 2t

[Excalibur]

Hi Excalibur, do u have any pics or a video of your set up, also do u run your car on the fuel u make. and how long for and did you have any problems at all, i have try the fuel on my petrol leaf blower it runs a lot faster and blows a lot better then if it runs on petrol with 2t

Yes there is pics & videos on my DIYdiesel blog of my current retort. Click the DIYdiesel link below.
Yes, I run my van on the diesel though I haven't made more than experimental sized batches so far. A good batch will run as good as normal bought diesel, perhaps better.

Pics of earlier iterations are on this (Energetic forum) thread.

Also a direct link to my Youtube
There are about 12 videos.

[palmtrees]

diesel

Yes there is pics & videos on my DIYdiesel blog of my current retort. Click the DIYdiesel link below.
Yes, I run my van on the diesel though I haven't made more than experimental sized batches so far. A good batch will run as good as normal bought diesel, perhaps better.

Pics of earlier iterations are on this (Energetic forum) thread.

Also a direct link to my Youtube
There are about 12 videos.

Hi thanks for getting back to me, are you cracking used motor oil for your van, i was asking about fuel from plastic, do you mix anything else with the oil, if not be careful with the motor oil as u end up with the injector coke up,

[Excalibur]

Hi thanks for getting back to me, are you cracking used motor oil for your van, i was asking about fuel from plastic, do you mix anything else with the oil, if not be careful with the motor oil as u end up with the injector coke up,

More recently I have been cracking oil only but earlier I ran some plastic. Also plastic-oil slurry. I like the slurry because is fills the retort without air gaps however be careful not to overfill the retort as Jetijs found out.
In the end I want my set up to handle any hydrocarbon that I can lay my hands on, because who knows how difficult the raw material will be to get in the future. Already there are reports of plastic being prohibitively expensive to buy from recyclers.
Re the motor oil and injector coke. So far it appears that if the motor oil is distilled and cracked to a good standard, there is no coking. The fuel is then as good as any bought diesel.

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Hi thanks for getting back to me, are you cracking used motor oil for your van, i was asking about fuel from plastic, do you mix anything else with the oil, if not be careful with the motor oil as u end up with the injector coke up,

The point in distilling waste motor oil (WMO) is to avoid the injector coking. So far for Excalibur and I it is working, but neither of us have run a large enough of distilled WMO through our engines to make a sounds statement yet.

[palmtrees]

diesel

The point in distilling waste motor oil (WMO) is to avoid the injector coking. So far for Excalibur and I it is working, but neither of us have run a large enough of distilled WMO through our engines to make a sounds statement yet.

Hi do u have any pis of the fuel u have made, also dose any body know what type of plastic the back of t.v are made of, here are some pics of my set up very bask as u can see lol, but it works and i made some fuel last night i have filter it and i am very pleased with the out come so far, here are some pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23395014263922
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23359822030818
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23328664563282
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23263807012066
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23159305477714
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23200620953970
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23237844464322
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23299438315778
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23125152477410
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23090023905314
https://picasaweb.google.com/1090522...23057799144130

[Excalibur]

Hi do u have any pis of the fuel u have made,

Yes, my blog October 6 post