How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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?

[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]

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]

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.

[wheels]

I was pickling some welds on the Retort Cap and it will then get wrapped in it's Thermal blanket, so though I better show some pics before it is all covered up.
So here is the Cap to the Retort Vessel and it has on top a Cyclone that also doubles as the Reflux chamber. Hopefully the Carbon dusts and heavy components will be returned via the bottom of the cyclone where inside the Cap, there is a small Cup that will be filled with Oil and act as a back flow preventer, so as gasses do not flow up the Cyclone the wrong way, negating it's operation. on top of the cyclone is the Catalyst containment Vessel. This has a Wire Basket that the catalyst will be held in, so as it will be easy to pick it out of the container, dump the old catalyst, refill and fit back in again. A pipe is about to be fitted to the top of that container, which will lead down to the entry point of the distilling tower.

[David007]

the last few pages make for some very interesting reading.bb

thanks bro. but i like to read all.... is mother of lore, father of bored
i dont non if can understande

[wheels]

hi wheels
Q4 who you think, is best design "refinery" -give can give your opinion
[COLOR="Blue"I am not sure there is a "best" design as suich, rather there are designs that suit different needs and different [/COLOR]
There simply is no one best design, but there are many bad designs. Or you could say, the best designs are those completely automated and continually feed, but we can't afford those, so we have to compromise, Hence the comment that each design suits different needs. Those needs are set by each indiviuals budget, access to materials, Feedstock type and just what one intends to do with the finished product.

Q1 your degres is Fahrenheit °F or °C degres Celcius????
Celcius

i learn too in this great forum, and i am in 70 pages, when i finish all,
answer all this for confrontation my idea,
for make the best "rafinery" on this forum

the last few pages make for some very interesting reading.bb

[David007]

His David007. I am not sure i want to be considered an expert. There is still a lot I am learning also.
So firstly your Q1 of temperatures.
I think the various temperatures has been well discussed here already. All I can add is that in one University study, they looked at the Quantity of output at certain temperatures. The test started at 80DegC and went up in units of 10's all the way to 1000DegC. They found that the outputs of Hydrocarbons peaked at 460DegC. After 460Deg, the output started to drop again, which I found very interesting. I am not sure why that happens. They did not test what types of hydrocarbons were being produced at what temperature, but just the total emissions at the various Temps.

Q2, the catalyst. This is a biggy and I am actually would like to make a whole new post about that. I am currently studying Catalysts and just why it is that certain Catalysts and combinations of such, work on Hydrocarbons better than others. What i have so far discovered is that even the experts are not completely sure either. Much of the research has been trial and era and the fact that the oil Industry is over 100yrs old and that trial and era has been passed down through those years.
What I do note through the thread is that there is certain some confusion in when a catalyst is operating as one and when it is operating as a filter. Also, just because a Material acts as a catalyst, does not always mean it is doing the correct job.
so this is a subject I will post on later.

Q3, is related in a way to Q2, but there is confusion on what can and can't be made with the materials used. It is also a little more complex with two very different Feedstocks being plastics and WMO used by the members here. I will speak for plastics only. Re PE and PP Plastics, they are not made from just one Hydrocarbon. They all have a range of Hydrocarbons called Olifins which can also be called Parrafins. When we melt the Plastics again, we allow them to fall apart back to those hydrocarbons. in the True sense, they are not being cracked, although that is a term that is often given to the process. True Cracking is when a Hydrocarbon goes through a Chemical reaction to be broken apart and that is usually done by a Catalyst. The not quite so correct term of cracking due to Heat, is more correctly called Distillation, except we haven't separated the chains into any weights till they reach our Still points. I feel there is a lot of confusion on the Forum with these terms and perhaps those with the experience can start trying to use the correct terms in the correct places to try and educate us all as to what means what where.

Q4, sorry I don't understand what si means

The other questions I think can be answered by many others here far better and I think a lot of that info already exists in the thread.

hi wheels
Q4 who you think, is best design "refinery" -give can give your opinion

Q1 your degres is Fahrenheit °F or °C degres Celcius????

i learn too in this great forum, and i am in 70 pages, when i finish all,
answer all this for confrontation my idea,
for make the best "rafinery" on this forum

[wheels]

hi wheels, this forume is so nice, but i think a summary.
now you are in other level -expert
if you build now your "refinery" how you answer this question??

NEW MEMBER WHEN FINISH TO READ, FORUM ANSWER THIS QUESTIONNAIRE, "HOW YOU BUILD IT" !!!!
(for all answer, and attach and link to illustrated, the answer)
1
1-a- temperature of reactor?
1-b- tem. of diesel
1-c- tem. paraffin, wax
1-d- tem. of kerosine
1-e- tem. of petrol (gasoline)

2- how is best catalyse about you, what have learn about catalyse?

3- what can do for make more:
3-a- diesel,
3-b- more paraffin, wax????
3-c- kerosine, or petrol (gasoline)???

4- why si best design for you??

5- who is good instrument to use (and chip)
5-a- electrical,
5-b- pid, digital temperature controller
5-c- thermo.
5-d- pressure valve

6- formula for make fire brick (non to buy for cooking it in your perssonial forme)???

His David007. I am not sure i want to be considered an expert. There is still a lot I am learning also.
So firstly your Q1 of temperatures.
I think the various temperatures has been well discussed here already. All I can add is that in one University study, they looked at the Quantity of output at certain temperatures. The test started at 80DegC and went up in units of 10's all the way to 1000DegC. They found that the outputs of Hydrocarbons peaked at 460DegC. After 460Deg, the output started to drop again, which I found very interesting. I am not sure why that happens. They did not test what types of hydrocarbons were being produced at what temperature, but just the total emissions at the various Temps.

Q2, the catalyst. This is a biggy and I am actually would like to make a whole new post about that. I am currently studying Catalysts and just why it is that certain Catalysts and combinations of such, work on Hydrocarbons better than others. What i have so far discovered is that even the experts are not completely sure either. Much of the research has been trial and era and the fact that the oil Industry is over 100yrs old and that trial and era has been passed down through those years.
What I do note through the thread is that there is certain some confusion in when a catalyst is operating as one and when it is operating as a filter. Also, just because a Material acts as a catalyst, does not always mean it is doing the correct job.
so this is a subject I will post on later.

Q3, is related in a way to Q2, but there is confusion on what can and can't be made with the materials used. It is also a little more complex with two very different Feedstocks being plastics and WMO used by the members here. I will speak for plastics only. Re PE and PP Plastics, they are not made from just one Hydrocarbon. They all have a range of Hydrocarbons called Olifins which can also be called Parrafins. When we melt the Plastics again, we allow them to fall apart back to those hydrocarbons. in the True sense, they are not being cracked, although that is a term that is often given to the process. True Cracking is when a Hydrocarbon goes through a Chemical reaction to be broken apart and that is usually done by a Catalyst. The not quite so correct term of cracking due to Heat, is more correctly called Distillation, except we haven't separated the chains into any weights till they reach our Still points. I feel there is a lot of confusion on the Forum with these terms and perhaps those with the experience can start trying to use the correct terms in the correct places to try and educate us all as to what means what where.

Q4, sorry I don't understand what si means

The other questions I think can be answered by many others here far better and I think a lot of that info already exists in the thread.