How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[chacowako]

Wheels thank you for your feedback. I guess that's why people experienced in this business takes 2 stages. Its what ive seen in Chinese plants and Asads commercial plant. I guess its results are just too unstable for a 1 pass plant.
1 pyrolyze the plastic
2 distill the oil.
What kind of plant do you have?

[chacowako]

1 last question is the tongue and groove flange design acceptable. People here don't understand what a v groove is...

[Excalibur]

All the v-groove flanges I've seen have been custom made. They don't use a gasket so are very economic. I googled the tongue and groove type and it shows that type using a gasket. I think they would be suitable though I know of none in use. Because the process uses high heat and virtually zero pressure, for safety I suggest thick flanges of say 20mm.

Nothing ever broke because it was too strong...

[wheels]

I am not sure why, but for some reason I have had the flange on mine leak. I am lifting the lid tomorrow and will see what happened. It is possible that the Tank has "settled" after being heated. I machined the top and bottom flange, then welded the bottom flange to the tank, then lapped the two together to get a perfect seal with Valve grinding paste. There was a slight warp from the welding which I expected. Before I ran the machine, I tested with a vacuum test and it passed OK. Fired up the machine and after some time when the machine reached around 450 to 500Deg, it started leaking. I shut the machine down and let it cool, then removed the lid and could see where the flange was not making contact with one another. I wondered if the heat may have allowed the weld to "relax" or de-stress and this has allowed the Flange to go back to the before lapping shape. So I decided the quick and easy solution was to use some exhaust gasket material and then bolted it all back together and ran the machine to full temp. The Gasket material decided it was going to leak. The material is a Graphite material with Aluminium(sorry that's how we spell it here) inbetween. But it didn't seem to want to seal. So tomorrow I will remove the lid and inspect what has taken place. Maybe lap the Flanges further and see if I can get a good metal to metal seal.

[MangiPNG]

Hi, Im new to the game.. Im also building a Pyrolysis Project after reading most of this thread. The problem is where I live it is very difficult to find parts so I use what I have.. I was wondering, instead of using the "V" Groove flanges would a copper gasket be sufficient with normal flanges? I have a got a few old fire extinguishers made of copper which I want to cut up, flatten to make into gaskets??

[wheels]

Hi, Im new to the game.. Im also building a Pyrolysis Project after reading most of this thread. The problem is where I live it is very difficult to find parts so I use what I have.. I was wondering, instead of using the "V" Groove flanges would a copper gasket be sufficient with normal flanges? I have a got a few old fire extinguishers made of copper which I want to cut up, flatten to make into gaskets??

Providing you use only PP and PE plastics, copper will be OK. Only the edge is exposed and you will probably notice some corrosion on that edge, but it should not be of any issue. But do not use copper pipe for any of the pipe work. It can block up with copper sulphate and also can act as a Catalyst and some hydrocarbons can be turned into things that you don't want.

[rozier56]

copper gasket

Flat copper gaskets do not work!! Been there and tried it!!A small exposure leak through will disrupt the process.It may work on a small system once, but not good for the future.

[wheels]

Flat copper gaskets do not work!! Been there and tried it!!A small exposure leak through will disrupt the process.It may work on a small system once, but not good for the future.

Forget trying to make a wide flat area as a gasket. Any Gasket works by being squashed and the same applies to copper. It is better to have a narrow strip of copper and crush it as the plate is pulled down by the bolts. The Gasket must be able to deform and mold to the surface irregularities of the metal surface. It is also important to pull the lid down evenly and the use of a torque wrench is worth the effort.

[Excalibur]

I have used copper successfully on my reflux lid, though it only gets to 350C as the target temperature. The gasket is as Wheels says, a narrow strip perhaps 3 or 4mm wide clamps the gasket with 8 x 10mm bolts( I think). It has been repeatedly reused over and over. Sometimes I annealed the copper, othertimes not. It's a good idea to treat the joint like a typical industrial flange, tighten evenly and in stages, perhaps diagonal stepping of the bolts in turn like a car cylinder head.
Better to over-engineer the parts in the hot zones.

[chacowako]

Hi guys im stuck at a problem I cant find a way to check the fluid level of my reactor.
Ive checked probes on the internet i can only find rated up to 200c for 450c Im having a hard time I found 1 that can reach 900c but costs $1000 !!! Way over my budget.
any genius got a solution? I would be very grateful
also i read on previous posts that an o2 sensor is used? Ive read on internet I have no idea how it should work.

[wheels]

An O2 sensor? are you meaning one that is from a Vehicle Exhaust? I don 't know how accurate something like that would be.
But anyway, the Senor should be a "K" type and they are usually rated for a high temperature of up to 1000 and some as high as 1300 deg. It is the digital readout that often does not go high enough. Have a search for something like one of these. IBEST TCM-SR4
It is best to fit a protective probe sheath made from a length of SST tube. Seal the end going into the retort by welding the end closed. Fit that to the retort to the depth you want. The open end will be outside the Retort of course and you will need to weld the SST tube to the retort to seal it. Then slide the probe into the tube. That will protect the probe from corrosion, but it should pass enough heat across to the probe with close enough accuracy.

[MangiPNG]

Providing you use only PP and PE plastics, copper will be OK. Only the edge is exposed and you will probably notice some corrosion on that edge, but it should not be of any issue. But do not use copper pipe for any of the pipe work. It can block up with copper sulphate and also can act as a Catalyst and some hydrocarbons can be turned into things that you don't want.

Thanks for the response guys.. I can't tell you how much of a motivation it is just to get a reply.

Wheels I plan to start off with WMO as I currently have about 12,000L which I can get for FREE monthly from a local transport company who wants to get rid of it. I don't plan to use copper anywhere else in my system only as gaskets, I think I read here or somewhere that copper accelerates the oxidation of the fuel?? so I'm thinking the less I use the better.

[MangiPNG]

I have used copper successfully on my reflux lid, though it only gets to 350C as the target temperature. The gasket is as Wheels says, a narrow strip perhaps 3 or 4mm wide clamps the gasket with 8 x 10mm bolts( I think). It has been repeatedly reused over and over. Sometimes I annealed the copper, othertimes not. It's a good idea to treat the joint like a typical industrial flange, tighten evenly and in stages, perhaps diagonal stepping of the bolts in turn like a car cylinder head.
Better to over-engineer the parts in the hot zones.

Excalibur, I have studied your setup very closely and have started to build my system based around most of your principles and methods using the scraps I can find.
I am wanting to use copper gaskets between every flange through the whole system. I have made all the flanges and lids out of 15mm MS/PLT myself using Oxy and a drill. The only flanges which are factory made are between the retort and reflux. The Retort is made from an old oxy cylinder and the reflux is from an old compressor cylinder. A few questions, does it matter if the reflux is larger in diameter and shorter in length then the retort? (I will be using a catalyst packed reflux same as yours) the length of the pipe from the reflux to the condenser is there a max or min I should be aware of? or does it depend on the gas temp entering the condenser?? My condenser is also bigger, the internal pipes are 40ID x 750 with a water jacket around them, thinking of packing them with glass? I want to incorporate a vacuum into the system for safety would the internals of an air conditioner or vacuum cleaner do? maybe if I fabricate the blades out of gauge sheet to replace the plastic to deal with the heat? Sorry for all the questions but I'd rather not kill myself trying.

[chacowako]

Wheels you missunderstood me. The temp probe I have no problem with
What im looking for is a way to check fluid level (melted plastic) so i can fill the retort when it is almost empty.

[wheels]

Wheels you missunderstood me. The temp probe I have no problem with
What im looking for is a way to check fluid level (melted plastic) so i can fill the retort when it is almost empty.

Hmm, not sure how an O2 sensor would work. Can you tell us what the comment about it's use was?
Knowing how much plastic is in the retort is a problem that several of us are trying to find an answer to. The only way I can think of is having the retort sitting on a load sensor and weigh the thing empty and then full and then you have a reference. Although you have to remember that the Carbon is building up in the bottom and slowly increasing it's weight over time, so some calculation is required. Unless you have a means of continuous carbon removal as well.
Just be very careful of adding Plastic in the middle of a melt. You are most likely adding oxygen along with the plastic, into a very hot vessel full of volatile Gas that would just love to mix with oxygen so it can go bang.