How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[wheels]

I is it wise to have the condensed pyrolysis oil through a centrifuge? will it degrade the oil?

Also what is the best way to make sure your oil is clean and has no water?

A centrifuge will not degrade the oil a the only things it removes are solid particles of which you do not want anyway. The need to use a centrifuge depends on how clean the Fuel is as it comes through. The use of a Fuel Filter is essential, the Centrifuge not so important.
Removing water can be done several ways. Either by simply leaving the Fuel to settle for a few days, in which the water will drop to the bottom and they you can run off that water. Or you add a water absorbing material and allow that to soak up the water, then pour off the Fuel and filter it. The use of a really good Fuel Filter such as Racor, have water separators, but these Filters are expensive.

[chacowako]

I is it wise to have the condensed pyrolysis oil through a centrifuge? will it degrade the oil?

Also what is the best way to make sure your oil is clean and has no water?

[chacowako]

Patent CN102559232A - Process method of removing odor of pyrolysis oil of waste rubber and waste ... - Google Patents

this seems to be a good catalyst. hope someone can test this out

[wheels]

thanks
fill material is a mixture of soil and perlite. fireclay and refractory concrete is used. I have new pictures today. catalyst box in the picture does not exist. What do you recommend as a catalyst?

A choice of catalyst depends on many factors and this comes back to the entire point of the earlier comments about building something like this when you don't have experience. You need to know what type of Fractions you are going to get as a main output and what kind of Fractions you actually want. No point in fractionating lighter weight fractions when it is slightly heavier ones you wanted in the first place. Then a Catalyst material chosen, based on the temperature it needs to operate at, the speed of the Gas passing through the Cat Vessel, does the Gas need to flow through the Catalyst Material or over it, How long will it work for before needing replacing, how easy to change it out, will it be cleaned and re used and so on.

[Excalibur]

kedigen, very nice work.
What is the fill between bricks and outer steel shell? Some kind of insulation?

[wheels]

furnace had to dig because of size. bricks are placed now. I'll share more photos soon. as in the first picture I found while researching something. Does anyone have information about it?
thanks

There are many many drawings to be found on the Internet. Few ever make it to being a real machine though. This particular idea is a variation of the Auger or Screw design. I believe there are a couple of these designs, in various configurations, operating, but they also have limitations as well as advantages. Very early on, I explored a similar idea for the Ewaste process. the idea was that I could preheat PVC in the screw and then remove the Chlorine before the plastic then enters the main retort. But the metals required are very special and very expensive Stainless steels that are also very difficult to work with, adding to the cost even more.

You have to understand that Plastics produce Acids. Even PP and PE will have a small amount of Acid. Unless you can 100% ensure that your source Plastic is clean and pure and not even the smallest amount of PVC, ABS or PET can sneak in, then chances are you are going to have Acids. With the extreme Heat, even the smallest amount of Acid will create generous corrosion. You are going to need to factor in to your cost replacement of that vessel fairly often.
This is the reason why you see so many variations of designs in the drawings seen on the internet. People are trying to find more efficient, longer lasting and thus cheaper means of making fuels from Plastic.

[sunilkm153]

furnace had to dig because of size. bricks are placed now. I'll share more photos soon. as in the first picture I found while researching something. Does anyone have information about it?
thanks

Hi kedigen
picture of spira reactor seems to be totally misleading about capacity utilization principally process shown in picture will work but reactor dimensions shown in picture are supposed to process not more than 70-80 kg/hr also there is no need for vaccum pump (wrong placement) as shown in picture

[wheels]

Hi Wheels,

How big is your retort? And how many hours do you intend take to fully process a batch of plastics?

it seems you have a very huge source of heat to power your plant

Yes it is huge heat, but that is because I am expecting to expand the Plant over time as I get a handle on running it. Remember that it is not the Fuel that is of Key importance in this instance, but the elimination of the Toxic by products. So as I change one part, I may unexpectedly change some other part. Things like Contact time, temperatures and flow rates will all have some kind of impact on how various Chemicals react. Plus at some time in the near future, once I get good knowledge of rates, I want to fit a auto feed system to the retort. That will mean I will be able to ramp up the amount and speed of plastic being processed and hence will eventually be able to utilize that extra power. I see no point in Building some large and very expensive plant. Size does not have to equate to amount of Plastic processed. I want to keep the design small and affordable should I ever get to the point of being able to take my ideas further in a commercial design. As size doubles, costs increase exponentially. Plus smaller means less chance of something catastrophic occurring.
Actually, every single component in the Plant has been made so it can be easily changed out for upgrade. I have made the Main condensing tank larger than the other two. But should I find another Fraction filling it's condensing tank too fast, i can simply make a larger tank and swap it in. Same with Scrubber and Filter tower. If I want to make changes, they are easy to swap out and in.

[Babataku]

The new Plant goes through it's first Test run end of this week or next week, so as yet, I am not really sure how it will perform. But with a test fire just a few days ago, I had plastic melting in the retort in about a minute. So it should run pretty quickly.
Today I am finishing off the new Scrubbing tower and fitting it into place and them just need to cover with Insulation and then connect the electrical/Control cabinet up.
I will post some Pics and let you know how it goes when it is ready to operate.

Hi Wheels,

How big is your retort? And how many hours do you intend take to fully process a batch of plastics?

it seems you have a very huge source of heat to power your plant

[wheels]

Wheels, what sort of production rates do you achieve through your plant?

The new Plant goes through it's first Test run end of this week or next week, so as yet, I am not really sure how it will perform. But with a test fire just a few days ago, I had plastic melting in the retort in about a minute. So it should run pretty quickly.
Today I am finishing off the new Scrubbing tower and fitting it into place and them just need to cover with Insulation and then connect the electrical/Control cabinet up.
I will post some Pics and let you know how it goes when it is ready to operate.

[rozier56]

production rate

Wheels, what sort of production rates do you achieve through your plant?

[wheels]

Hello.
One of our most experienced members - Asad, wanted me to post the link to his new blog as he is not able to post himself. Here is the link:
Pyrotech Oil

Hope you like it.
Jetijs

So does Asad have an actual operational Plant or is this just ideas on paper (or computer screen) that he is trying to promote for sale? Because there are several area's that concern me from just looking at the Pictures of his Design.

[Jetijs]

Hello.
One of our most experienced members - Asad, wanted me to post the link to his new blog as he is not able to post himself. Here is the link:
Pyrotech Oil

Hope you like it.
Jetijs

[wheels]

exactly right bubbler is the most appropriate place to netralize acidic nature of oil produced by pyrolysis here continuously by checking pH you may add alkali to it

Although just to be clear, it won't be the oil passing through the bubbler, it will be the gas only. The Hydrocarbons will have been condensed out of the Gas before hand.

There is a process however, called "Hydro cracking" in which the Oil is cracked using high temp high pressure water or in some cases Steam at Super Sonic speed. It is a very superior way of cracking as it gives a very high level of control to what Hydrocarbon is produced. But it is at a level far exceeding all the backyard Amateur operations. Large scale Commercial operations tend to use the process and I imagine the Plant BBD works at would employ this kind of technology.

[sunilkm153]

Sorry Kedigen, I really am not understanding your comment about Calcite. Are you adding Calcite to the Plastic inside the Retort?

Calcite is another name given to Calcium Carbonate. CaCO3. Also known as Lime. It is not acidic, it is very much the opposite, being extremely Alkaline and will react with and neutralize Acids. I am not sure if Acid neutralization inside the Retort is the best place. You would have to continually add Calcite and that would result in a lot of ash in the bottom of the retort, requiring frequent cleaning.
Any Acid neutralization should be done further along the process and the best place is in the Bubbler.

exactly right bubbler is the most appropriate place to netralize acidic nature of oil produced by pyrolysis here continuously by checking pH you may add alkali to it