THERMALSIS- CONVERTING WASTE PLASTIC TO DIESEL

ABSTRACT

Twenty per cent of municipal waste is non-biodegradable plastic, which currently ends
up in landfill, thereby creating pollution. With the relentless problem of landfill site
locations continuing to present difficulties to councils and waste collection agencies, the
single biggest cost of waste management today is transport. Many councils are now
forced to pay huge rates per ton simply to move the waste out of the collection areas and
into the landfill sites. Although many methods such as incineration and recycling are
there but they have again some drawbacks. To overcome this problem a new technology
has been developed for their better disposal. The Ozmotech Thermalysis system converts
these waste plastics into high- grade "Green" distillate fuel. Thermalysis has proven
successful, and is economically viable. The results of this extensive R&D program is a
virtually non-polluting, (100%) synthetic fuel which does not require engine modification
for maximum efficiency. The resultant distillates are unmatched for environmental
quality and economic viability. Existing diesel engines can run fully effectively on this
“green fuel” and meet year 2004 standards with no engine modification. Post consumer,
post-industrial unwashed and unsorted waste plastics are the feedstocks for the
Thermalysis process, and with a production efficiency of over 95%, the resultant diesel
output almost equals the waste material input.

One tonne of waste plastic will, on average, produce 930 - 980 litres of diesel fuel,
with just 10 - 50
ppm sulphur content.
Production costs, including capital costs recovery and operating costs, are generally
under 40 cents
per litre.
Green Distillate weighs approximately the same as virgin Diesels, and contains the
same energy (BTU rating) per litre.

There are no tradeoffs between engine performance and emissions and minimal additives
are required. The fuels are suitable for all stationery diesel engines including generators,
as well as all road engines including trucks and buses, and heavy machinery.

Green Distillates combustion constituents reflect:

Minimal CO (emissions of carbon monoxide)
just 12ppm Nitrogen oxides.

Green Distillates can replace virgin diesel fuel in unmodified Diesel engines operating
without expensive catalytic converters and is an ideal fuel for boilers, internal
combustion engines and turbines. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) reduction of 100:1 and
recycling waste plastic into diesel fuel makes this system unique.
INTRODUCTION
Thermalysis is a process whereby scrap and waste plastics are converted into liquid
hydrocarbons that can be used as fuels. The system uses liquefaction, pyrolysis, and the
catalytic breakdown of plastics. The system can handle almost all the plastics that is
currently being sent to landfills The major advantage of the process is its ability to handle
unsorted, unwashed plastic. This means that heavily contaminated plastics such as mulch
film can be processed without difficulty. The same applies to siliche wrap, trickle tape
and other agricultural plastics. Other normally hard to recycle plastics such as laminate
soft incompatible polymers; multilayer films or polymer mixtures can also be processed
with ease unlike in conventional plastic recycling techniques. Most plastics can be
processed directly even if contaminated with dirt, aluminum laminates, printing inks, oil
residues etc.

CURRENT SITUATION OF RECYCLING OF PLASTICS

Various methodologies have been tried and tested to process waste plastics for many
years, with recycling becoming the most common methods reflecting the needs of the
time. Plastics that cannot be processed are handled by waste management companies by
land filling or incineration in recent years, building or expanding of incinerators has
become difficult due to the opposition from governments and community groups with
environmental concerns, most notably the level of the emissions. Liquefaction of plastics
is the superior method of reuse of the resource. The distillate product is an excellent fuel
and makes Thermalysis one of the best, economically feasible and environmentally
sensitive systems in the world today. Thermalysis fuels are used as fuel for diesel
burners, trucks and generators.
STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM
The system consists of feedstock infeed, pyrolysis gasification chamber, catalytic
converter, condensers, centrifuge, oil recovery line off gas cleaning and adulterant
removal. Waste plastics are loaded into the pyrolysis chamber. The chamber is generally
filled in 30 min When the chamber temperature is raised, the plastics begin to melt and
agitation commences to even the temperature. Pyrolysis then commenses.The gas goes
through the patented converter and is converted to the distillate fraction by the catalytic
cracking process. The distillate the n passes through the recovery tank after cooling in the
condenser. From the recovery tank, the product is sent to remove contaminants such as
water or carbon. The cleaner distillate is then pumped to the reserve tank where a small
quantity drawn off as fuel for the system itself. The remaining product is pumped to the
storage tanks.
SYSTEMS INSTALLED
Consumat and Pactherm system
It is dedicated to the efficient, low emission reduction of Municipal, Commercial and
Industrial wastes. Both systems reduce MSW and other common wastes by a factor of
100:1, leaving little else but an inert ash as a residue.
Startech Plasma Converter
It is a waste management system which introduces plasma to the chamber, and actually
alters and breaks down the molecular structure of the materials inside. It is specially
suited to hospital and similar infectious wastes, toxic materials that would otherwise
cause long term damage to the environment. These include asbestos and other
carcinogens, oil and chemicals

Bio-energizer
Probiotic products which excite bacterial activity in waste waters, reduces sludges,fats,
greases and other bio-solids.Bio-energizer can be used in all applications from small
grease traps to major treatment lagoons.

Nytrox
Ozone generation equipment which is highly efective in the elimination of bacteria,
especially Legionella, in building cooling towers.

THE OPERATIONS

PYROLYSIS

Pyrolysis is the process of thermal disintegration in the absence of oxygen. Plastic waste
is continuously treated in a cylindrical chamber and the pyrolytic gases condensed in a
specially designed chamber system to yield hydrocarbon distillate comprising straight
and branched chain aliphatics, cyclic aliphatics and aromatic hydrocarbons. The resulting
mixture is essentially equivalent to petroleum distillate. Each Thermalysis plant can
process upto 8 tonnes per day of waste plastics converting it to approximately 7,500 lt of
high quality distillate. The plastic is pyrolised at 385-425o C and the pyrolysis gases are
condensed in a specially designed 3- stage condenser to give a low sulphur content
distillate.
The essential steps in the pyrolysis of plastics involves:

Evenly heating the plastic to a narrow temperature range without excessive

temperature variations.
Excluding oxygen from pyrolysis chamber
Managing the carbonaceous char by-product before it acts as a thermal insulator and
lowers the heat transfer to the plastic.
Careful condensation and the fractionation of the pyrolysis vapours to produce
distillate of good quality and consistency.

The heart of the pyrolysis system is the pyrolysis chamber which performs the essential
functions of melting, homogenization controlled decomposition and out gassing in a
single process. The process requires minimal maintenance apart from the carbon residue
removal and produces consistent quality distillate from the mixed and low grade plastic
waste. The key to the efficient pyrolysis process is to ensure that the plastic is heated
uniformly and rapidly. If the temperature gradients develop in the molten plastic mass
then the different degrees of cracking will occur and products with a wide distribution of
chain of lengths will be formed. Another important aspect of pyrolysis is to use a
negative pressure (or a partial vaccum) environment. This ensures that oxidation
reactions are minimized and that gaseous pyrolysis vapours are quickly removed from the
process chamber thereby reducing the incidence of secondary reactions and the formation
of undesirable byproducts. The polymer is generally cracked at relatively low
temperatures to give predominantly straight chain aliphatic hydrocarbons with little
formation of by-products. These hydrocarbons are then selectively condensed and
cleaved further catalytically to produce the average carbon chain length required for
distillate fuel.

FEATURES OF THERMALYSIS SYSTEM

The system is easy to operate,safe and highly economical

SAFETY
Thermalysis operators under normal pressure, it is fully computer controlled and has
numerous safety features built in as part of design.
MAINTENANCE
Coking occurs in the chamber when the pyrolysis of the waste plastics is almost
complete. However, Thermalysis is designed to minimize coking by stabilizing heat
conductivity within the pyrolysis chamber. The chamber requires cleaning every second
process, and just takes 30 minutes.

PRE-TREATMENT
Generally, input feedstock plastics do not require washing or sorting. Thermalysis can
process any shapes of wastes up to 250 mm2 so the need for processing beyond
mechanical densification is minimised.Running costs include some electricity and water,
and no expensive materials or chemicals are used as catalysts. Some additives may be
required to modify viscosity of the distillate.

POLLUTION
The Thermalysis system produces extremely low level emissions. The key to Consumat's
low emission levels is the action of the dual chambers. The first operates in an air starved
atmosphere, where the waste is burned at high and precisely controlled temperatures.
Dioxins including carbon monoxide are produced in this chamber, but are not emitted
into the atmosphere. Instead, the gases are drawn into a second chamber which has
additional thermocouplers attached, and operates in an air forced atmosphere. The
precision of temperature and oxygen control results in the reformation of the carbon
monoxide into carbon di-oxide and water vapour, which are then vented. There is no
visible emission from the stack, which does not require scrubbers of any kind. Indeed,
when in full operation, the only way you can tell that the Consumat is running is from
the heat haze above the stack.
NOISE /VIBRATION
The system has very few moving parts, and accordingly there is no excessive noise or
vibration.
FOREIGN MATTERS
Foreign matters such as soil, sand or papers are often adherent matters attached to waste
plastics. The system is designed to cope with these foreign materials up to approximately
7% by weight or volume.
OFF GAS
Pyrolysis of plastics tends to occur on irregular basis hence the carbon chain lengths of
the pyrolysis gases vary between 1-25.Most of the gas is liquefied in the condenser but
some remain as gas. Hydrocarbon with carbon count of 4 and lower remain as gas at
room temperature. This off gas contains methane, ethane, propane, butane, etc. Although
volume of the gas differentiates depending upon the types of plastics it is usually 20%.
PRODUCT YIELD
Plastics are separated into oil,gas abnd char residue by pyrolysis.Recovery ratio and
characteristics of the product distillate differs depending on the types of plastics or
decomposing temperature and is :
Approximately 950 ml of oil can be recovered from 1 kg of plastics such as Olefins
including Polyethylene(PE) and Polypropylene(PP) or Polystyrene(PS).

THE GREEN FUEL CHARACTERISTICS

Green Fuel, which weighs approximately the same as Diesel fuel (.84Kg/1), contains a
minimum 2,642 BTU more energy per litre than standard Diesel fuels. This is reflected in
improved performance with increased engine power, greater fuel economy, or both.
Green Fuel has a component mixture boiling point 80' above Diesel fuel. This factor
increases engine performance and reduces emissions. This increased boiling point is
consistent with the very low Reid Vapour Pressure for Green Fuel. This factor assures
smooth and adequate vaporization of the fuel for complete (1 00%) combustion, thereby
virtually eliminating Non Methane Hydrocarbon (NMH) emissions. The Cetane number
(index) range for diesel fuel is 35 to 45, which is a comparable indicator to an Octane
rating for petrol. Cetane is a measurement of the ease with which the fuel will self- ignite
under compression. Green Fuel has a Cetane number of 78, which also is responsible for
a much shorter ignition delay, thereby affording quick starts and optimum performance
Until now, an acceptable level of aromatics was in the 30% to 35% range. Today,
however, by law, that amount must not exceed 1 0% without obtaining a variance. The
aromatic content of Green Fuel is 3.0% as produced.
One exceptionally detrimental substance in fuel is sulphur, which is not only harmful to
the environment but also to the engine components from oil contamination.
Desulphurization of Diesel fuel has lowered the sulphur content from 5,00Oppm (off
road) and 3,00Oppm (vehicular on road) to 300 PPM. The sulphur content of Green Fuel
is just 1 ppm, 300 times cleaner in sulphur oxide emissions than presently manufactured
Diesel fuel. Combustion emissions from Green Fuels are less than 0.001 % those of
unleaded gasoline, and less than 0.0005% of virgin diesels, and is therefore an ideal fuel
for boilers, internal combustion engines (trucks, cars, boats etc) and turbines and
generators.
PLASTICS SUITABILITY FOR TREATMENT
Although not ideal, the process can nevertheless tolerate small quantities (less than 5%)
of plastics containing heteroatom. Heteroatom are atoms other than carbon and hydrogen
such as chlorine, sulphur and nitrogen. Examples of such plastics include PVC, nylon,
polyurethanes and rubbers. Since heteroatoms are heavier than the light elements such as
carbon and hydrogen these increase the density of the plastic. This can be used as a guide
to which plastics are suitable to Thermalysis. A rough rule of thumb is to take a
representative sample of flaked waste plastic and add it to a jar of water. If more plastic
floats than sinks then the plastic scrap is acceptable feedstock for Thermalysis. The
floatable fraction represents mainly polyolefins (that is polyethylene and polypropylene)
and expanded polystyrene. Polyolefins give the best yield of distillate due to their
straight-chain hydrocarbon structure. Polystyrene is beneficial in the mix since it
contributes aromatic character to the distillate and improves the point properties (that is
the low-temperature viscosity properties) Polymers containing heteroatoms need to be
minimized since the heteroatoms from the undesirable compounds during the pyrolysis
process.

RESIN SPECIFIC GRAVITY SUITABILITY

Polyethylene(PE) 0.918 Very good
Polypropylene(PP) 0.90 Very good
Polystyrene(PS) 1.04 Very good
ABS resin (ABS) 1.03-1.072 Good. Requires off gases
counter measures
Polyvinylchloride(PVC) 1.23-1.45 Not applicable
Polyurethane (PUR) 1.2 Fair, volume of oil recovery
is small
Fiber plastics 1.65-1.8 Fair pretreatment required
to remove fibres.

TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF WASTE PLASTICS

Thermalysis can process commingled and miscellaneous waste plastics such as
• Plastic packaging scrap from material recovery/sorting facilities
• Oil and detergent bottles
• Off cuts/trimming from nappy production
• Mulch film and silage wraps
• Mixed post consumer wraps
• Caps/labels/rejected bottles from bottle recycling operations
• Commercial stretch and shrink wrap

Plastics from kerbside:

Plastics recovered from the kerbside collection of recyclables are generally an ideal
feedstock for thermalysis.However given the appreciable market value of PET and HDPE
these are generally sorted and removed first. The mixed commingled plastic stream that is
left after the higher value plastics have been recovered can be processed by Thermalysis.
If the plastic is sorted from the MSW there is no need to identify plastics by type for it to
be used in a Thermalysis process. It is only necessary to separate the commingled plastic
stream away from the general waste stream.Contamination such as organic matter or
paper dried on the plastic can be tolerated. Furthermore plastics derived from the MSW
would have better feedstock properties than MRF derived plastic scrap due to the higher
polyolefin content in the MSWderived material.

Agricultural plastic:
Mulch and silage film is mainly polyethylene based but may be contaminated with up to
19%+ of soil. This level of contamination is of no problem for Thermalysis system. The
soil and dust simply acts as an inert filler and exits the process in the char/coke stream
. Other suitable agricultural plastics are used plastic pipes, used herbicide contrainers,
greenhouse film, trickle tape and dripper tube.

Commercial shrink and Stretch wrap:

Pallet wrap and shrink/stretch wrap is based on low and linear low density polyethylenes
and makes ideal feedstock for Thermalysis.Large quantities of these films are collected in
the commercial field and due to their tacky nature they collect dirt/dust which makes
mechanical recycling difficult. In the Thermalysis process such films give very high
yields (>95%) of distillate.

Multilayer films and laminates:

Multilayer films and packaging are difficult to mechanically recycle due to the presence
of dissimilar polymers and metals that are often adhesively bonded. This makes
mechanical recycling uneconomical. Thermalysis on the other hand, can handle such
stream without difficulty since aluminum laminates are not volatile and simply end up in
the solid char stream. Only the plastics are pyrolised.

The char stream:

The carbonaceous char forms in the chamber during the pyrolysis.The char residue
produced is about 2-5% of the output for the relatively clean polyolefin feedstocks and up
to 8-10% for PET rich feedstocks. Since the char passes acid leaching tests it can be
simply land filled. Inorganic additives such as cadmium pigments from the plastics end
up in the char stream. The carbon matrix has a metal ‘fixing effect’ and binds up the
metal ions so that no leaching occurs after the disposal.

Energy requirements:
The Thermalysis plant is heated by burner using the distillate fuel produced by the
process itself. The oil burner requires approximately 24-28 litres distillate fuel/nr which
is only a fraction of the plant’s output.

Power co-generation:

One of the dominant issues for the waste management industry, and by extension,
government at all levels, is that of waste to energy, whereby the process of waste disposal
delivers the added benefit of generating power for internal and external use. This means
that the heat generated by the system during the destruction process can be harnessed to
heat water running through tubes to a boiler, attached to a turbine generator. This system
is capable of generating not only the energy necessary to run the plant, but has the
capacity to generate sufficient power to run other facilities on site, and often fed back into
the state grid to earn additional revenue. High efficiency generators can be integrated into
the design of the Thermalysis system.Each generator can produce up to 288 kw/hr.

OVERALL PERSPECTIVE
The level of infrastructure and established practices with respect to the collection of
waste plastic also plays an important role in defining the setup and the operation of
manual extraction and sorting. The current structure and or planned development of
collection services and segregation of household plastics in India will determine what
additional infrastructure needs to be considered as a part of overall collection and sorting
process for Thermalysis. From the industrial perspective, the use of waste plastic can be
viewed from two perspectives. Individual companies (private & government) that
accumulate significant waste plastic as a result of their manufacturing and productio n
processes may consider the instillation and the use of Thermalysis as a capital investment
for their own purposes. Significant interest and investment is currently coming from the
individual organizations that fall into this category. Beyond individual companies who
are willing to invest in the technology for in house purposes, there remains the ability to
source and collect waste plastic from industrial and commercial users in the same way
that the waste plastic is collected from the individual households. The structure of the
collection and sorting process of the plastic will be subject to current and planned waste
collection practices for the territories where a Thermalysis system may be in operation.

CONCLUSION:
It is reasonable to conclude that there is a significant effort in many countries to reduce
the use and the quality of plastic wherever possible. As an example we understand that
the Indian Government has introduced laws which ban the manufacture and supply of
thein shopping bags whilst legislation enforces the use of heavier plastics which can be
treated over and again. Such decisions ensure that less plastic bags are left to enter the
waste stream, however the overall weight and the volume of plastic in the heavier bags
counter balance such reductions when considering potential feedstock volumes for use in
a Thermalysis system. In summary, Thermalysis is a truly sustainable waste solution
since it divers plastic waste from landfills, utilises the embodied energy content of
plastics and produces highly usable commodity that, due to its cleaner burning
characteristics, is in itself more environment friendly than conventional distillate.

REFERENCES: “Aryans environmental solutions”

“Ozmotech ltd,ausdtralia” ”internet references”
“Visiontec international pvt ltd, australia”