How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[Jetijs]

Yes, shouldn't be a problem. Thin polyethylene films, such as are used for green houses, usually can not be shredded and if they can be shredded, they take up lot more space after the shredding, so it is better just to compress it without shredding

[bugler]

Jetijs when you have the time, please, do the diagram of the condensers.
If possible include how to directly separate diesel from gasoline.

Thanks.

[bandido]

2Jetijs
What car do you fuel with your multifuel/diesel/gasoline?

2bugler
just heat first condensor to apropriate temp. then gasoline will evaporate to next condensor

not sure about this temperature. Saw 100C
correct me if wrong

[Jetijs]

Hi Bandido
So far we have tried several diesel and liquid fuel burners, they work great with this fuel. We have also tried a diesel genset, also worked fine. And we tried it on one car with diesel engine, that worked fine as the engine warmed up, but till then it had some minor issues of premature detonation because of the high gasoline content. It is also possible to do the thermal cracking of used motor oil, this also turns it into diesel, we have tried that and it works just fine on a diesel car engine. More tests will follow.

[mbrownn]

I think we need to clear up a few points

A diesel engine will run on almost any liquid hydrocarbon fuel, some better than others. Modern diesel fuels have many additives to improve the burn consistency and this is true of petrol too.

If we put our cracked fuel in our brand new land cruiser we will have problems.

First the waxes will clog our fuel filters, second the lighter fuels will cause pre-detonation and I am sure there will be other problems too.

If we have a very simple diesel engine and if we keep the fuel warm enough to melt the wax the engine will run on the fuel mix but we can expect more carbon deposits from the heavier fuels and pre-detonation wear from the lighter fuels. So it is better to separate them if we can.

What we are making isn’t really diesel fuel but can be many different fuels that will burn in a diesel engine. What fuels we produce depend upon what plastics and other things are in the mix.

I’m not saying this to put you off but so that you are aware of potential problems when it comes to modern engine management systems etc.

As a fuel to power a simple diesel engine it will be OK but better if we remove the heavier and lighter components.

I used to do a little work at a plastics recycling plant, in the UK, that made plastic garbage cans. His whole plant ran off fuel he made but he never told me how he did it. This is obviously how he did it. He had old diesel engines running generators crushers and shredders. When I said to him you need some new engines he laughed and said as far as he was concerned the older the better.

Keep cracking guys. This is too important not to do.

By the way he became a millionaire and sold out to a big recycling company.

[digitz]

Agreeing with you Mrbrown, use it only in older diesels.
Wax separation can be made using the biodiesel method, it's not to difficult but add a process (it's described in biodiesel threads or related forums).
In the end you can get very nice biodiesel that can be used in recent vehicles as well.

[Jetijs]

Got a call from my friend, he tested the fuel from polypropylene on his Jeep with diesel engine, worked like a charm and a bit increased power could be felt. So I guess it is up to the engine. Some engines will work just fine on unrefined fuel which is just filtered and others will need a bit refining which can be done on the fly when the fuel is produced

I will get pictures of the lid assembly and the inside of the power box tomorrow and then I will post them here.

[bugler]

Jetijs I know I keep asking like unstoppable.

could you please make the drawings of the condensers? if possible including the set up to separate gasline from disesl.

Thanks.

[Jetijs]

Here you go, nothing complex. Any other means of keeping the first condenser at 100 degrees can be used. The second condenser may be cooled if needed.

[dutchdivco]

Additional things to address

Some metals should be avoided, when dealing with oils, as they contribute to polymerisation, (sp?) I believe. Can't recall which ones, but thought we should address this.

Also, believe you earlier mentioned the possibility of using catalysts. I am familiar with using catalysts, such as palladium, at high temps. What catalysts would work at these lower temps, and what would they do?

I have no use for the 'gasoline' once I've 'boiled it off' from the diesel, or seperated from the bubbler. I'd much rather have no, or less, 'gasoline', and more 'diesel', or more of the flamable gas thats the end product.Call it Butane/Propane. I am thinking about feeding this gas to the intake of an oxygen concentrator. The output from the O2 concentrator would go to a carbon fiber LPG tank I have.Pressure relief valve of coarse, althought the tank is rated at some phenominal pressure.

Finally, should be mentioned. The glycerine product, that 'can' be run in a diesel engine. Don't have to heat the whole tank. Just the area right around the fuel pick-up. And the lines, and the fuel rail to the injectors.And, you need to start on Diesel, or Biodiesel, then switch to the other lines once warmed up, and purge the lines before shutting down. Older Mercedes work well.A H20 injection system (into the intake) is a great, low cost insurance for your engine.To periodically 'steam clean' your cylinders blows off the charcoal so it can't build up and damage the engine.;-) Jim

[Jetijs]

Thanks Jim, some good info there
So far I am not sure about catalysts, I will have to ask my chemist. And it might be that different temperatures give different diesel/gasoline ratios, this needs to be tested

[bugler]

Thanks Jetijs,

but wouldn't you need then double amount of thermocouple, thermostat and relays?

Let's hope this project is accepted in the university and I can do it.

[Jetijs]

Yes, you would need additional thermocouple, temperature controller and heating element. But at least the aluminum oxide bricks can be substituted with ordinary glass fiber insulation and the heating coils can be substituted for a heating element from a coffee maker or something like that, because at these temperatures anything will work

[rickoff]

Got a call from my friend, he tested the fuel from polypropylene on his Jeep with diesel engine, worked like a charm and a bit increased power could be felt. So I guess it is up to the engine. Some engines will work just fine on unrefined fuel which is just filtered and others will need a bit refining which can be done on the fly when the fuel is produced

Great thread topic, Jetijs. I think where this method really has tremendous potential is for preparing fuel that can be substituted for #2 oil used in an oil burning furnace or boiler. The savings realized in just one heating season in a cold climate would more than pay for the cost of building the unit. This makes me wonder about the feasibility of tapping some of the heat created by the burner to produce the heat required by the cracker. Any thoughts on that?

Rick

[Jetijs]

Hi Rick,
do you mean to tap the heat from burned gasses? If so, then this has already been discussed. So far the best way to heat the reactor IMHO would be using a diesel burner that runs on a fraction of the produced fuel, no refining would be needed and it would even run on paraffin. This would also be cheaper, provided you can get used diesel burner cheaply. Also the produced gasses could then be burned along the fuel thus decreasing the fuel consumption. I found used diesel burners for around 130$ rated at 20-34kW of produced heat.
The next model we will build will be larger so that something around 1 ton of plastics could be processed daily