How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[waterboost]

Thats what we tried yesterday.... minus the vacuum section... its in the picture on the last page.... it was rubbish... the plastic has built up around the feed pipe and created a blockage... my first job today is to cut it out...

A quick redesign has resulted in the addition of an auger inside the hopper... the hopper has a lid... put plastic in hopper and attach a cordless drill to the auger... the gases only come out when you run out of plastic... at which point you remove the drill and close the hopper lid...

The pipe is also insulated now

Still no purge gases... This isnt theory... this is an actual running machine...

[placebo]

Thats what we tried yesterday.... minus the vacuum section... its in the picture on the last page.... it was rubbish... the plastic has built up around the feed pipe and created a blockage... my first job today is to cut it out...

A quick redesign has resulted in the addition of an auger inside the hopper... the hopper has a lid... put plastic in hopper and attach a cordless drill to the auger... the gases only come out when you run out of plastic... at which point you remove the drill and close the hopper lid...

The pipe is also insulated now

Still no purge gases... This isnt theory... this is an actual running machine...

That's great and very interesting. So the weight of the material in the hopper plus the auger turning constantly in the opposite direction prevents escape of the gases ? is that correct ?

Does the auger protrude in to the chamber or is material allowed to drop down a pipe, how will you prevent more blockages ? Maybe cool the pipe ?

Sorry for all the questions, just want some get a base before I design and build my own system.

Many Thanks

[waterboost]

http://www.energeticforum.com/attach...us_machine.jpg

There is no chamber, as such... the whole 3m long machine is an oven with an auger inside it... so the hopper auger (vertical) is only 10-20mm from the hopper auger (horizontal)

If you are going to build one, start with a batch machine and play with that before even thinking about a continuous machine...

We used shredded hard plastic and it isnt heavy enough... even with a stick to ram it in.... the auger will prevent blockages and create a continuous feed...

I'll get a picture of it insulated later today...

Anyone had strange blue water come out of their machine?

[placebo]

http://www.energeticforum.com/attach...us_machine.jpg

There is no chamber, as such... the whole 3m long machine is an oven with an auger inside it... so the hopper auger (vertical) is only 10-20mm from the hopper auger (horizontal)

If you are going to build one, start with a batch machine and play with that before even thinking about a continuous machine...

We used shredded hard plastic and it isnt heavy enough... even with a stick to ram it in.... the auger will prevent blockages and create a continuous feed...

I'll get a picture of it insulated later today...

Anyone had strange blue water come out of their machine?

Thanks waterside for taking the time out. Your device is one of the most interesting I have seen.

So the whole 3m length is a continuous reaction chamber. Just a few questions if I may.

The hopper, is that the nearest vertical pipe?, what is the nearest grey tank ? is that a heat source? The black tank is a condenser ? and what is the middle vertical pipe ? a reflux?

I will definitely be building a small batch at first and will think about continous feed as I have success.

Do you have much consistency or is it an art depending on the plastics?

[waterboost]

Blue Water with fuel...?? see pic
Arterial issues.... hard plastic stuck inside feed pipe...

[waterboost]

The hopper is the black gas bottle upside down

The pipe on an angle on the left next to the auger motor is the flu pipe... oil burner blasts flames down the big pipe and the reactor auger is inside

The vertical pipe is the reflux, the box is a shroud to increase cooling efficiency with the fan

The condensers are green, behind the reflux....

The fuel is consistent... see earlier pictures from our batch machine
http://www.energeticforum.com/attach...cracked_it.jpg

Feedstock makes a difference, but not much... unless you use polystyrene

[placebo]

The hopper is the black gas bottle upside down

The pipe on an angle on the left next to the auger motor is the flu pipe... oil burner blasts flames down the big pipe and the reactor auger is inside

The vertical pipe is the reflux, the box is a shroud to increase cooling efficiency with the fan

The condensers are green, behind the reflux....

The fuel is consistent... see earlier pictures from our batch machine
http://www.energeticforum.com/attach...cracked_it.jpg

Feedstock makes a difference, but not much... unless you use polystyrene

Thanks waterside, that explains you're set up very well, appreciate it.

I've learned something already today!

All the best with your endeavors

[waterboost]

Its WATERBOOST!

not Waterside!

Thanks Plasticboy

[placebo]

Its WATERBOOST!

not Waterside!

Thanks Plasticboy

Ha Ha sorry, typing too fast!! Aplologies

[imakebiodiesel]

Hi waterboost,or is it waterblast?
Ive seen the blue water before in fact Ive built in an early warning system into my reactor, using it. Blue water is an indication of either chlorides or sulphates. I have used a copper pipe on the last stretch of pipe before my 3 part scrubber. If any chlorine gas or hydrogen chloride passes through the pipe I get blue water and I know that pvc has entered the system.Its nearly impossible to keep PVC out completely. The labels on PE oil containers are often pvc. In small quantities a good scrubber will cope with it but its good to be aware that it is there.

[waterboost]

Could it just be copper grease that caused it from inside the machine?

We noticed no smells....

It only came out 24hrs later???

Its about pH 11 if that helps

(edit: copper chloride is acidic... my blue is strong alkaline)

[imakebiodiesel]

Its not the same as my blue water then. Mine is very acidic.

[Tplane37]

I've drawn a picture, hope that explains it a bit better. Would welcome comments

That picture of the hopper is similar to something I have in mind. But with my idea, I am thinking of using it as a pre-melt hopper with double valves in the pipe below the hopper instead of the solenoids like you have suggested.

The pre-melt would be achieved by placing the hopper inside of (basically) a chimney. Mine is a 55 gallon drum is a smaller diameter drum inside of it. The exhaust (waste) heat from the burner itself would be routed up through the "chimney" (55 gal. drum) so that the hot air that is no longer hot enough for cracking would melt the plastics that would be in the hopper. Open the top valve, let the pipe fill up, then close the top valve and open the bottom valve to add to the retort. I modified your picture to try to show what I am talking about, its very crude, but I hope it gets the idea across. I think with having the retort under a vacuum, it would pull the melt into the retort, but I am not entirely sure. Might have to pressurize the pre-melt hopper so that if forces the melt into the tube, hold the pressure in the tube, and then the pressure difference would force it into the retort when the lower valve is opened... but then a vacuum would have to be pulled on the retort again for each refill (I would think.)

[Beyond Biodiesel]

The blue water is copper chloride and and HCL. It should be pretty corrosive, unless the copper has fully neutralized it. It will come in a wide range of colors from green to blue. You will get it if you have any PVC or other chlorinated hydrocarbons in your reactor.

I like your vacuum pump idea to evacuate the air out of your feed of ground plastic, but it might be insufficient. To aide in purging you could add a ring with holes in it at the bottom of your hopper, then run CO2 through that ring. CO2 will perculate your ground plastic before it goes into your vacuum pre-chamber.

[waterboost]

The blue water is copper chloride and and HCL. It should be pretty corrosive, unless the copper has fully neutralized it. It will come in a wide range of colors from green to blue. You will get it if you have any PVC or other chlorinated hydrocarbons in your reactor.

Its a strong alkaline.... so it cant be Copper Chloride...