How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[wheels]

Has anybody had any experience with E V A plastics? Plastic utilized in slop manufacture.
Also have access to pv foam insulation material.

Probably not something you want to play with. EVA Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, releases Acetic Acid for one, which is highly corrosive.
PV or I assume you mean PVA.....Poly vinyl acetate, is much the same as EVA
Just in case you are referring to Polyurathane foam, no that can not be pyrolized as it produces vast amounts of Di-isocyanate.

[wheels]

Hi has anyone had experience with a Mixer OR is a mixer really necessary?
I am building a 300liter retort per day. I already have my small scale prototype working (2liter per hour) and going to scale up my issue is with the mixer. Anyone could suggest a good way to do it?

There are many ideas on the Internet, but few actually work.....safely at least. There are many so called Manufacturers out there that have very little real world experience in Pyrolysis. They simply make plants and the Buyers think they are therefore buying something that works. But that is not always the case.
It is very very difficult to get a perfect seal when working with the temperatures and the vapors we are dealing with. I played with several ideas, but could not get anything to work effectively and continuously. All the tries ended up with leaks and the need for replacement with each use. Plus just thnk about how hot that motor would get sitting above the retort and the retort being heated to 400degC. I doubt the motor would last long.
I am sure that if money was no issue, it could be done, but that goes beyond what this site is all about.

[rozier56]

rozier56

Has anybody had any experience with E V A plastics? Plastic utilized in slop manufacture.
Also have access to pv foam insulation material.

[kedigen]

final state. hopefully no more wax

[chacowako]

Hi has anyone had experience with a Mixer OR is a mixer really necessary?
I am building a 300liter retort per day. I already have my small scale prototype working (2liter per hour) and going to scale up my issue is with the mixer. Anyone could suggest a good way to do it?

[wheels]

The whole idea of the retort is to try and heat it evenly and not make same mistake i did and super heat the base. Notice the plants u buy online have a rotating retort to heat it evenly. Thanks allot Excalibur for info.

Those kind of plants are usually for Vehicle Tyres and tend to be very large vessels.
The distillation process is complex. Far more complex than most realize and you need to have much greater precision with controlling temperatures. Wax can form for a number of reasons.
You need to keep all pipe work insulated till it reaches the first condenser, then you need to maintain each condenser at the appropriate temperature, with more insulation around pipe work between pots. Temperatures dependent on what kind of fractions you want.
The idea of just allowing the vapor's to flow and condense along the way will be creating many unsaturated chains and they are the ones that oxidize and may even cause waxing. One other form of wax could be a crystalization issue caused by a light fraction that does just that. Or it may be a very heavy fraction in the Parrifin range, which is caused by too much heat, or not enough cracking. For example, no reflux or fractions not being held at temperature long enough.
Whatever the cause, it varies for each and every design of plant and a lot of testing is required to find out exactly what you are producing.
One big important question. Are you extracting all the oxygen from your plant before operating???

[Excalibur]

Nice work RR.

Your remedies sound OK. I'm not able to understand the 'conical flask/side arm' so perhaps a sketch, pic or illustration. The key function of a reflux is its' ability to separate heavy from light fractions so careful thought should be given to avoid interfering with that function..
Retort burner management could be explained with the analogy of a 'pot of food on a stove'. Initially a higher flame may be applied but once the contents is boiling, the heat is turned down to a simmer.

[Renewable Rtesources]

The whole idea of the retort is to try and heat it evenly and not make same mistake i did and super heat the base. Notice the plants u buy online have a rotating retort to heat it evenly. Thanks allot Excalibur for info.

[Renewable Rtesources]

OK i realized the problem was the heat shield and modified the reflux. My heat shield was right against the base of retort i moved it 2 inches off the retort with spacers. I use wood as heat source i use 2 doors on furnace in which i open and close to adjust temp. In the reflux i have added a distillation plate due to the fact that my pipe from reflux to condenser is on the side not on top, my design was originally to have plate inside but left it out, i have no idea why i left it out, reason for putting it on the side and not on top is because i put fuel in a conical flask with side arm and noticed vapour would not go through side arm as much but would condense on side near the top and run back down to boiling liquid. I tried another conical flask without side arm i put a stopper top with tube to condenser yes got more to pass through but when i put it back in the flask with side arm and added distillation plate so it would run right into side arm and condenser, in same space of time i got 250% more so decided to make it that way. But waxing was main problem of hdpe and ldpe. For anyone else experiencing waxing chances are heat shield is your best friend and spacing of the heat shield. And thanks for info will post more pics and info on set up.

[Excalibur]

The fuel turning to wax demonstrates that it is insufficiently cracked. Either the reflux is not working or other parameters are interfering with its' effectiveness.

Am still unclear on some details.
What burner type and how many kilowatts? More info on the heat shield?
Where does the reflux outlet exit? Is there any reflux packing?
Is there a temperature probe on the burner heat.? Is the burner heat volume adjustable while running?
How long does it take to bring the temperature up? Are you pausing or reducing the heat periodically during the heat up stage to allow any low boiling point fraction to boil off?

There are two other reports within the last couple of months with same/similar problem as yours. I suggest read and study those.
In any case put a temperature probe on the flame temperature to avoid superheating the steel vessel. Also if the retort probe is at the top of the vessel, it may not be showing the real temperature.

Jetijs found he had to reduce his reflux temperature to avoid the waxing. If I recall he used 150°C. See forum post #680 . (Seems very low to me though)

Hope this helps. It's difficult without more information...

[Renewable Rtesources]

Retort is 500 gallon propane tank heat shield is container metal with a burner underneath which is fed back from system through a bubbler reflux is on top connected by a 6 inch pipe reflux is 3 foot high by 2 foot wide insulated with a 55 gallon drum to hold insulation from reflux is a 11 foot by 6 inch pipe to condenser the condenser has a 2 inch pipe going in 8 inches from bottom connected to kero diesel tank the reason for the 8 inches in condenser is when liquid is filling in first condenser it gets time to heat and get to temp so that naphtha will continue on to second condenser before fluid enters kero diesel tank below first to second condenser which then continues to 3rd condenser to catch any escaped vapour then on to bubbler and burner sensors are located on retort beside pipe to reflux and on reflux right before pipe that goes to condenser and in condenser all condensers have aluminum wires inside

[Renewable Rtesources]

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[Excalibur]

Pp remains liquid when cooled but hdpe ldpe turns to wax when cooled i took the waxy hdpe and but it in a beaker heated to 300c distilled it liquid that was distilled remains liquid when cooled and hard wax remains in beaker when cooled is this the only way to get liquid from hdpe ldpe by running it twice? Or what I'm i doing wrong why pe plastic becomes waxy when cooled retort 400-425 reflux 285-300

Please put up some clear pics of the retort and reflux. Also a schematic sketch of these two vessels along with dimensions and details of heat source, temperature probe locations, etc. A hand drawn sketch would do.

[Renewable Rtesources]

Pp remains liquid when cooled but hdpe ldpe turns to wax when cooled i took the waxy hdpe and but it in a beaker heated to 300c distilled it liquid that was distilled remains liquid when cooled and hard wax remains in beaker when cooled is this the only way to get liquid from hdpe ldpe by running it twice? Or what I'm i doing wrong why pe plastic becomes waxy when cooled retort 400-425 reflux 285-300

[Babataku]

Thanks All

Thanks for the replies. I will do an inspection to see how much damage the diesel burner is causing as it is heating directly the retort. I will maybe add another layer of 4-6mm mildsteel to take the beating from the burner. and if this wears out i can just swap it out.

which stainless steel can withstand such conditions. Just thinking of a future build that can last years. Cast iron will be too heavy and i guess will take long to heat.