How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[wheels]

here are some pics of my Distillation tower and Filter tower. I have a Hydrocarbon take off point on the Catalyst vessel, which should give the heaviest product. The connecting pipe will enter the bottom container of the Distillation tower and there is an element under that to take the bottom container to 220 DegC. So Diesel weight Hydracarbons should be able to be drained from that tanks tap. The Gasses that continue then enter the next chamber above. Another Element is to be fitted to maintain that Chamber at Temperature and remaining Gasses then flow up to the top chamber, which is water cooled. I will be able to control that ones temp with a small refrigeration unit and have the lightest fractions available at that take off point. From there, remaining Gasses run through yet another water cooled heat exchanger and down to the bottom of the scrubbing Tower. At the very bottom, the gas enters a bubbler and then rises up through the Tower, where a fine spray of Sodium Hydroxide is injected into the Tower at three different points. That Gasses feed through the Spray and are scrubbed of acids such as HCL, Cyanide, Chlorine etc etc. After the Scrubbing, they enter the Final unit which is the Molecular Filter, to ensure all final Gas output is totally cleaned. the Gas will then run from that to two possible flare points. one will be a simple Flare to Atmosphere, the other being a Burner at the Retort to aid in heating the Plastic.

[Excalibur]

Very nice, exciting times!

Is that a vacuum pump connected via the copper pipe?
There is what looks like a sight glass on top & bottom of one lengthy vertical vessels? Are they pyrex and/or purpose made for such a task?
What kind of pump are you using to spray the sodium hydroxide?
More info on the molecular filter please?

Thanks.

[wheels]

Very nice, exciting times!

Is that a vacuum pump connected via the copper pipe?
There is what looks like a sight glass on top & bottom of one lengthy vertical vessels? Are they pyrex and/or purpose made for such a task?
What kind of pump are you using to spray the sodium hydroxide?
More info on the molecular filter please?

Thanks.

It's a plain ole Compressor pump but hooked up to suck instead of blow. It sucks right down to a complete vacuum with ease. They work fine for intermittent use, but no good for continuous use. But i don't need a continuous vacuum. I only pull the vacuum down and then stop the Pump and then monitor the Vacuum gauge to ensure no air is leaking back in. After awhile, if the Vacuum has been maintained with no loss, I then start the heating.
So looking at the 3rd pic of the Towers, the one that you can see the dial gauge in the view (and the little glass windows), the tower on the left is the Distilling tower with three take off points.
At the very top of that tower, where the SST tube comes off the top, there is a SST non-return Valve. I need to move it to a different position further along. As you follow that pipe along, you will see the heat exchanger and immediately below that is a Ball Valve that I currently use to isolate the second part of the unit while the first part is vacuumed down. That Valve is what i want to replace with the Non-return and make the pressure change automatic instead of me manually watching the Gauge and then opening the Valve.
The pipe then continues on to enter the bottom of the scrubber with the glass jars at top and bottom.
The Glass Jars and the little viewing ports are ordinary Glass, but are only temporary. I want to view what is going on in there in regards to the spray and the little glass ports are removable to allow access to the internals for things like changing the water jets and i want to test the Ph of the liquid and take gas samples at those three different points so I can work out how effective the idea works and if changes are needed. Everything is cold at this point and under no pressure. It is just the water/hydroxide mix spraying down and cold dry gas rising. Then the viewing ports and jars will be removed and replaced with SST caps.
The SST braided hose on the right of that tower is the 3 injector points with spray nozzles on the inside. The pump is a Magnetically coupled Chemical pump and you actually can't see it very well if at all.
There is a slanted container at the bottom of the scrubber around the back. That is a water/oil separator and the water mix recycles while any possible oil, which i doubt there will be any, will accumulate and be captivated at the top of that container for removal.
The molecular filter is two stages. First being Zeolite, which is very good and efficient at removing many impurities and chlorine. Although all that should have been removed in the scrubber, it is just secondary. The Zeolite is acidic and the second stage is alkaline. I haven't decided just what, but probably a Calcium type product. I am still looking for what I want and I want it in granular form, not powder, so as the gas can flow through it.
Did that cover everything?

[Excalibur]

Most fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

What is the retort volume capacity and what projected liter-per-hour yield are you aiming for?

In your view, what is the benefit of scrubbing the gases if they just get flared off. Is it about improving emmisions? Will the gas be dewatered after the sodium hydroxide treatment?

One part of the distillation tower has many concentric welds. Is this sieve trays or what are those for?

[David007]

i need to conact piccolo chimoco

i need to conact piccolo chimoco, can help me to contact it ???
is only he to speak italiano

mail ??? if have someone

[wheels]

Most fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

What is the retort volume capacity and what projected liter-per-hour yield are you aiming for?

In your view, what is the benefit of scrubbing the gases if they just get flared off. Is it about improving emmisions? Will the gas be dewatered after the sodium hydroxide treatment?

One part of the distillation tower has many concentric welds. Is this sieve trays or what are those for?

Current Retort is 80ltrs. Because 90% of the plastics processed are ABS, the volume of Liquid will be very low and what there is will mostly be Methyl Benzene(Styrene) and mostly Gas.
The "de-watering" is done by the Zeolite/Calcium final filter. I am thinking that at a later stage, I may need to heat the filter slightly to ensure the moisture is evaporated as otherwise the Zeolite will become saturated and if I use Calcium product in the filter above the Zeolite, that stuff does not like being wet. They are going to be area's of "trial and error" followed by tweaking.
Yes the scrubbing is for reducing emissions. One, we are using plastics that have very high levels of nasties, it is essential that the flared Gas is as clean as we can get it. Two, if we ever scale up to the next stage, to get a resource consent, we will need to prove and show that we are getting a pure clean gas at the end of the process. Whether we actually get to that size, I am not sure, but I still need to prove the Gas is clean.
Good spotting on the concentric welds. Top secret stuff that is. Haha, na actually it is a scrap piece of SST that was used as a practice by a student learning to TIG weld. Like most of us, Money is no issue..... because we don't have any. All the SST has come from scrap. All the fittings are things I have gathered and horded over the years. Hence why some Valves currently don't match. Eventually I can change small components out and make it more professional looking. The costs so far has been things like Welding consumables, grinding/cutting discs, insulation and the digital temp controller.

[wheels]

These pics are for the benefit of Excalibur from a PM discussion we were having. But thought others might be interested in seeing what i made when someone else was paying the Bill and Budget was not so much an issue. Related to extracting Oil, but this is extracting Lipid Oil rich in Omega 3. This Machine does have some similar components. At the Left of the Pic, there is the Molecular filters. The first tube is full of activated Zeolite and the second is full of Activated Carbon. The rest of the system uses the Gas as a Super Critical Solvent. It is heated under pressure so as it remains a liquid and that breaks the Cell wall of and releases the oil. The Gas is boiled off from the product and repressurised back to a liquid to go back through the process in a continual cycle. The oil is taken from the bottom of the very right Tower.
The second Picture is of a big centrifuge I designed and Built. It takes 100Kg of Wet product and spins the Oil and Solvent out of the mix. This is for a different oil removal process. The Drum spins at a few thousand RPM and generates many thousands of G's, placing a force on the liquid that would take a hydraulic press of several hundred ton to replicate.

[rozier56]

Hi folks, i wonder if anybody out there has the simplified plastic table suitable for our production process?I know about the general floating method but there is a triangle table that describes the suitable ones and none suitable.

[pravin]

There is one major problem with PET, it turns from it's Solid Form, straight to Gas at about 260DegC. You get no liquids, just Gas. But the danger is that any Gas in any part of your Machine will turn back to a White Crystal as soon as temperatures below 260DegC are met. As most of the Plant other than the Retort, is below 260Deg, this will result in the entire Plant becoming blocked with a dense White Crystal called Terephthalic Acid.

@ WHEELS AND DAVID is it possible to recover Terephaltic acid as it fetches a good sale value.

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Hi folks, i wonder if anybody out there has the simplified plastic table suitable for our production process?I know about the general floating method but there is a triangle table that describes the suitable ones and none suitable.

At this link you will find the table you are looking for, as well as a comprehensive discussion of the toxic byproducts of pyrolysis, as well as ways to mitigate them Toxic by-products of pyrolysis

[rozier56]

Thks Beyond, just what i needed,you always a great help.

[wheels]

There is one major problem with PET, it turns from it's Solid Form, straight to Gas at about 260DegC. You get no liquids, just Gas. But the danger is that any Gas in any part of your Machine will turn back to a White Crystal as soon as temperatures below 260DegC are met. As most of the Plant other than the Retort, is below 260Deg, this will result in the entire Plant becoming blocked with a dense White Crystal called Terephthalic Acid.

@ WHEELS AND DAVID is it possible to recover Terephaltic acid as it fetches a good sale value.

Yes of course, but it is not a straight forward exercise and you need some well designed equipment and some really high standards in operational Safety ad Chemical handling. It is not an exercise any basic back yard operation should attempt. It's not that the Acid itself is dangerous, it is reasonably safe, but it is operation that needs care.
I think it is also important to say, just because it is a comodity, it may ot have a market. The Industry using it will require a provable quality of the Chemical. Industries will not take risks on millions of Dollars of other products by just dropping in a material that is said to be something. They need to know the quality, grade, is it really what it is said to be and so on. Plus these Industries are using Chemicals in Tons. They most likely would not be interested in some small quantity produced in a backyard operation that can not have a guarantee of quantity and consistency of supply

[Heat Pumps]

Incredibly useful information. Surely this can be put to use in developing countries and larger countries with huge excess of plastic wastes can use this as a renewable way to help others? Surely? Or is that just to cynical?

[fox32]

Wheel,s great insight, as always, and very nice work with your shiny reactor! I hope is will perform even better than it looks. Any particular designes strike you as extra dangerous? thanks.

[wheels]

Wheel,s great insight, as always, and very nice work with your shiny reactor! I hope is will perform even better than it looks. Any particular designes strike you as extra dangerous? thanks.

Anything that does not have a Pressure release and that release must be able to cope with expelling the gasses cleanly, with sufficient quantity, without blocking, should it operate.
Anything that is made from a thin walled vessel, like a Drum, when it sits upon a Naked flame worries me somewhat.
Anything that has nothing more than a simple bubbler for the waste gasses and oils. The fumes are highly corrosive and Toxic.
Many plants, even well designed ones operating in an enclosed space, often beside someones Home. If there is a Fire, someone could lose their Home and chances are, Insurance may not cover it.
Slightly aside from what we are doing, I am very cautious of many claims some people make on Youtube/Internet. They are often trying to promote their own machines or trying to raise Money in some way, like Crowd Funding. There are a stunning number of people making outrages claims of producing free energy in some way shape or form.
There are a few rules of thumb we should all keep in the back of our minds.
First is, "there is nothing new under the Sun". Even this Pyrolysis idea is very old. Pyrolysis goes back hundreds of years. It is just that Plastic as a Fuel is new, it's not the process that's new.
There are no conspiracies with energy technology. Companies are falling over themselves to find a technology that puts them out into the market. Oil companies do not buy technology to hide it and all that crap you hear all the time. Companies look at bottom line Profit, nothing else. If someone told an Oil company they could make more money making marshmellows with their Oil rigs, you will be assured they were producing Marshmellows with Oil rigs by next Tuesday.
Another rule is, you can not get something from nothing. Perpetual motion is not possible. It breaks all the laws of physics. It takes energy to produce energy and you will always have a loss doing so. It's called "Work done".