How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Which, due to the specific gravity of plastics, and the amount of air space contained in ground plastic means, if you want 10L of fuel from plastic, then you will need to process 100L of plastics to get it.

[Excalibur]

According to Jetijs on page one of this thread ,he said: 100 kg plastic yields 95 liters diesel, so your 10kg would be 9.5 liters

[dedooo]

Thank you for your advice, I want to ask: if you want to produce ten liters of fuel once, how much capacity will be skewed, "reactor" in liters, which accommodates ten kilograms of plastic

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Good remarks Excalibur. Dedooo, additionally you would want the line from your retort to be insulated and heated to the retort temperature, or otherwise you will have plastics and/or waxes condensing out in the line, and plugging it up, which is possibly what happened. You are lucky the whole thing did not blow up.

[Excalibur]

Dedoo, it appears as though there is leaking vapor from the flange??.
If that's the case then you most likely have a blockage in the piping. Also the last photo shows melted plastic, perhaps plastic in the waxy stage??
For your system to work correctly, you need to fit a reflux chamber above the reactor.

[piccolo chimico]

doo hello, I'm sorry for your problem but I hope you went well with what is successo.ma what happened has burned the gasket, or you skipped some welding?

[dedooo]

Hello all, today I had an accident, filled retort to cut plastic and ignited Mod nearly two hours, and after strabismus on three liters of diesel is what happened in pictures

[Beyond Biodiesel]

...I also seem to have a period in my system when the temps stabilize{128*c} and even drop down10-15*c before increasing again.Does anybody else have this problem.Also this last run of yours was it all done around 350*C.
DEREK.

This kind of fluctuation in temperature is typical of fractionation. It is due to the heat of absorption of a fraction when it begins to boil. So, it is normal and expected.

ciao BB, non so se fare l' isolamento sul mio reattore perchè sto provando a togliere la pompa del vuoto quindi avrò bisogno 400 gradi nel mio reattore e di temperature più basse nel reflusso e nel frazionamento, quindi ci siamo o lo spero oppure isolerò

[QUOTEenglish]Hello BB, do not know if the 'insulation on my gear because I'm trying to remove the vacuum pump 400 degrees so I'll need in my reactor and lower temperatures in the reflux and splitting, so we or I hope so or I'll isolate[/QUOTE]

ciao rozier56, il mio reattore prima di modificare riusciva a riscaldare da 20/400 gradi in 25 minuti ma troppo potente. tu che tipo di bruciatore usi? a gas o elettrico?

[QUOTEenglish]rozier56 hello, my reactor before change could heat up by 20/400 degrees in 25 minutes, but too powerful. what kind of burner you are using? gas or electric?[/QUOTE]

I had my first run yesterday, unsuccesfull unfotunatley, the temeprature took ages to rise, about 2 hours to 130c, and after 3 hours it reached 210 c, stayed at this temp for a while then started to slowly drop, to about 180, when i shut things down. I was thinking this happened because it was getting dark and chilli and the draft cooled it... I am using gpl gas and a crude flamethrower(need to change it), also my temperature probe isn't in direct contact with the air from the reactor, but it is a prope inside a tube that goes in the reactor, need to change that as well... I will post some pictures later, maybe you can shed some thoughts. Thanks!

Also i filled the reactor with unshreded plastic, big pieces, il post pictures!

Nice photos, thanks, and your system looks well made with good flanges; however, it looks like you need to insulate your reflux, which would explain why it takes so long for your system to come up to temperature and produce anything.

[fox32]

I opened the reactor earlier today, one thing is sure, the smell is unbearable. I noticed some wax in the reflux, and also water drops, and also some wax formed on the outside of the v groove, i think will try it without the green gasket(made of something called clingherit) next time.
DSCF8227.JPG

DSCF8236.JPG
Also i think i need a bigger burner with a more diffuse flame.

DSCF8229.JPG
I Intentionally left the reflux and pipes unisolated to see if there are any gases seeping through at the joints and seals.

In the metal basket i plan on putting the red clay to act as catalist, or more baffles to be a better reflux.
DSCF8235.JPG
But my problem is why it hasn't heated enough and why the temperature drop, maybe because of the hollow heat exxchanger that goes through, maybe if i put some sort of elicoidal "screw" in it it will slow the heat down a bit. Will try that.
DSCF8233.JPG
Best regards!

[fox32]

I had my first run yesterday, unsuccesfull unfotunatley, the temeprature took ages to rise, about 2 hours to 130c, and after 3 hours it reached 210 c, stayed at this temp for a while then started to slowly drop, to about 180, when i shut things down. I was thinking this happened because it was getting dark and chilli and the draft cooled it... I am using gpl gas and a crude flamethrower(need to change it), also my temperature probe isn't in direct contact with the air from the reactor, but it is a prope inside a tube that goes in the reactor, need to change that as well... I will post some pictures later, maybe you can shed some thoughts. Thanks!

Also i filled the reactor with unshreded plastic, big pieces, il post pictures!

[rozier56]

Tks Excalibur, your explanation makes total sense.I should have known this as a retired chemist,"old age" i suppose!
I am not doing continous feed supply,will try to see if i can come up with a condensate relief valve on top of retort to try and release water steam output.
Your turk heating matches my lpg gas heater almost perfectly in temp gains, although yours will be cheaper to run.I am going to try and heat with a diesel burner next week,with the idea of getting the heat temps up quicker to avoid the start up delay time.

[Excalibur]

Hello Excalibur, please tell me how much diesel consumed in the process of extracting diesel from waste oil in percentage terms, and why you do not work on the waste plastics? Do you have no plastic waste? Thank you

Sorry, I didn't note the amount of diesel used this time, however I think no more than 15 liters at the most. Please realize that the process alternatively uses off-gases which it did about 50% of the time.

I prefer wmo because it uses less energy to convert, can be easily pumped, doesn't plug pipework, doesn't require chipping and I have plenty available for free. I have stocks of chipped/shredded plastic too and I've cracked it a few times. Once the wmo supply dries up, then I'll do a lot more of the plastic. Also, every time my reactor is apart, I plan to fill with plastic and continuous feed wmo after that.

Thanks for the information on your insulation, details would very helpful for those struggling to afford expensive refractory.

[dedooo]

Hello Excalibur, please tell me how much diesel consumed in the process of extracting diesel from waste oil in percentage terms, and why you do not work on the waste plastics? Do you have no plastic waste? Thank you

[dedooo]

Please tell us what the insulation is around your reactor? It looks really interesting.

Hello Excalibur is the insulation layer of stainless steel, clay, iron, wool above thermal clay, wall barrel #

[Excalibur]

Hi Excalibur,can you tell me how long it takes with your turk burner to reach a temp 330-350*c.I also seem to have a period in my system when the temps stabilize{128*c} and even drop down10-15*c before increasing again.Does anybody else have this problem.Also this last run of yours was it all done around 350*C.
DEREK.

To clarify, the retort/reactor vessel with 40 liters of feedstock takes 1.5 hours to get to 230°C when I see the first drips which is a totally clear liquid. Within the next half an hour the retort temperature reaches 380°C with good production flow of transparent amber liquid. For the entire duration of the run, heat from the burner is applied at 800°C according to the thermocouple in the flame path.

The temperature problem you mention at 128°C is most likely to do with the feedstock having a water content. This turns to steam but condenses on cool parts of the reflux. It then runs back to the feedstock where it gets evaporated again. The cycle doesn't stop until the water vapor is able to exit the reflux chamber. So this is what the strange gyrating of temperatures is at around the 100°C+ or so.

Be aware and be warned. If you are continuously feeding feedstock into the retort/reactor that is at full 400°C, any water content will immediately flash boil creating steam. This steam could literally explode, possibly blowing the system apart!!

The last run had really good flow at temperatures between 350°C and 400°C. Much of the time the temperature was below that because fresh wmo feedstock was lowering temperatures and I was having to wait for it to recover.