How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[AAS]

turnplasticwasteintodieselfuel_zps8505cd1b.jpg Photo by syed722 | Photobucket

Hello All

I have design one Plant.

Can anyone help me in finalizing the design?

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Thanks, syed722, for posting your drawing of your pyrolysis unit. Here are my comments:
1) You do not show any insulation on the reactor. I find 4" (10cm) of good quality insulation is needed around the reactor for efficiency.
2) The pipe between the temperature gauge and the safety relief valve looks like it is open, there seems to be no use for it.
3) There is something on the other side of the safety relief valve that looks like a 12" flanged port for loading and/or clean-out of the retort, but it is not labeled.
4) The "feeder" just looks like a non-valved funnel. It suggests a screw feeder for continuous operation.
5) Your heat source on the bottom is not defined. Do you plan to heat with electricity, gas, oil or solid fuels?
6) Where is your reflux?
7) While I like cyclones, I am not sure what the point is of your cyclone, nor the piping that comes and goes from-to it.
8) I was trying to understand your "hot gas to retort" pipe was about, but now I get that it is your flu burner, it would be best to run that from the bubbler or reservoir.
9) Why would you want a bypass to go straight to your bubbler?
10) Dumping all of your condensate into your bubbler is a primitive way of collecting your condensate. You may want to build in a fractionation system so that you can collect and separate valuable fractions, like: motor oil, hydraulic oil, diesel fuel, kerosene, gasoline (petrol), and keep all of that mess out of the water, so that you do not end up with an unusable emulsified mess at the end.

[curlyrocks]

Hello
Thanks for sharing information.

Well I want to know little more about the effects and problems occurs by the process.

Is it Eco-friendly to Environment?

I want to know when we heat plastic its convert to vapor, When it converts to vapor is there any bad smell release from it?

I want to install such plant in residential area is there any side effect?

You're going to want to use propane or some kind of burner at the end of your system to burn off the final gas. As flammable as a lot of it is relying on it to burn its self off (essentially flaring) is not enough to ensure that the main off gas is CO2. Improper flaring of oil byproducts have caused a number of people around the world to get sick from benzine's and other noxious hydrocarbons.

Depending what you're using for a feed stock you may also need water, acid or basic bubblers to remove any Cl, Bromine, sulfur or any other non-carbon elements that may be present.

Other than that you should bee good to run this in a residential area but you will have to check with your local laws 1st.

[wpage]

A very interesting project...

The point of local laws in residential locations could be a issue. With recyling as popular as its become. Some restrictions may apply where attempted.

[Excalibur]

turnplasticwasteintodieselfuel_zps8505cd1b.jpg Photo by syed722 | Photobucket

Hello All

I have design one Plant.

Can anyone help me in finalizing the design?

I'm guessing that the design is fired by retort gases and the vertical pipe above the reactor is the flue stack. The sheer volume of heat required would make the flue necessary to duct away spent gases.

The level of feed hopper suggests that the reactor level will be somewhat below half so I thought the upper part might work as the reflux.

Condensers need to handle removing the heat from the vapor stream so if your condenser was bypassed, the bubbler would overheat very quickly. A large system will generate a large amount of continuous heat, so capacity for heating needs to be balanced with effective cooling efficiency.

The design has no provision for separating lighter fractions from the primary fuel.

[Beyond Biodiesel]

I was wondering what will happen or what should I do regarding Brominated flame retardant found in most computer plastics. Will it be an issue or what kind of damage can it cause the environment. I am already taking precautions regarding mercury and other dangerous chemicals and am seperating them out before this stage but I was wondering what to do about the flame retardants found in the plastic.

curlyrocks, I did a little research on the Toxic byproducts of the pyrolysis of Brominated plastics.

Conclusion:
Since Bromine is hyrdophobic, then the bubbler will not remove it from the vapor stream of a pyrolysis unit that is processing brominated plastics; however, since it is a lipophile, then it will go readily into solution with the hydrocarbon vapor stream and precipitate out in the condensates. Nonetheless, since Bromine compounds tend to suppress fire, then its presence in the condensates is likely to reduce its value as a fuel.

[curlyrocks]

curlyrocks, I did a little research on the Toxic byproducts of the pyrolysis of Brominated plastics.

Conclusion:
Since Bromine is hyrdophobic, then the bubbler will not remove it from the vapor stream of a pyrolysis unit that is processing brominated plastics; however, since it is a lipophile, then it will go readily into solution with the hydrocarbon vapor stream and precipitate out in the condensates. Nonetheless, since Bromine compounds tend to suppress fire, then its presence in the condensates is likely to reduce its value as a fuel.

Thx for the info. It has helped tremendously in deciding what I need to do. I am no longer planning on condensing the gas for liquid use at a latter time but am now more interested in using the gas directly to power a generator, which will provide heat to my system and later my home.

Seeing the info about how it was used as an anti-knocking agent in engines was very interesting. What I'm thinking right now is that I can put PCB's (Printed Circuit boards, not the chemical PCB's) into a reactor with other cleaner sources of plastic like old bottles will dilute the amount of bromine but it will still be present which may help reduce engine knocking. As much as a fire retardant may lower the overall energy value of a fuel, the ability to let the fuel burn slower is very good for internal combustion engines.

Also I'm thinking that any lead left on the PCB's from soder may also bind with the bromine which again will reduce engine knocking.

But the thing is that the Bromine is not good for the environment. There probably won't be anything too poisonous made from it, at least not in any major amounts, but it is a major cause of the depleting O3 layer.

[syed722]

Thanks, syed722, for posting your drawing of your pyrolysis unit. Here are my comments:
1) You do not show any insulation on the reactor. I find 4" (10cm) of good quality insulation is needed around the reactor for efficiency.
2) The pipe between the temperature gauge and the safety relief valve looks like it is open, there seems to be no use for it.
3) There is something on the other side of the safety relief valve that looks like a 12" flanged port for loading and/or clean-out of the retort, but it is not labeled.
4) The "feeder" just looks like a non-valved funnel. It suggests a screw feeder for continuous operation.
5) Your heat source on the bottom is not defined. Do you plan to heat with electricity, gas, oil or solid fuels?
6) Where is your reflux?
7) While I like cyclones, I am not sure what the point is of your cyclone, nor the piping that comes and goes from-to it.
8) I was trying to understand your "hot gas to retort" pipe was about, but now I get that it is your flu burner, it would be best to run that from the bubbler or reservoir.
9) Why would you want a bypass to go straight to your bubbler?
10) Dumping all of your condensate into your bubbler is a primitive way of collecting your condensate. You may want to build in a fractionation system so that you can collect and separate valuable fractions, like: motor oil, hydraulic oil, diesel fuel, kerosene, gasoline (petrol), and keep all of that mess out of the water, so that you do not end up with an unusable emulsified mess at the end.

[syed722]

How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

Thanks for all

I want to install 1000 lts/day plant.

I need Help, Can anyone give me drawing of the plant along with dimensions.

turnplasticwasteintodieselfuel11_zpscea091cb.jpg Photo by syed722 | Photobucket

[fox32]

Greetings Syed772

It looks to me that you have skiped a major part of this thread, everyone is willing to help here, but before anyone can givu you their help you must prove that you have done your homework and know what are you doing.

For this you must read the entire thread (at least firt 80-100 pages) then you will know why your design isn't going to work proper.

There are lots of pictures of designs around the forum, you just need to spare some 2-3 hours and read the thread. After that, you'l know pretty much ewerything you could learn from reading.

Good luck with your work, and stay safe!

- Wood and charcoal are not reliable sources of power since it is hard to control the temperature with wood and charcoal. Better use GPL, oil/diesel burner etc.

- The reflux must be placed on top of the retort. (read the forum).
- You could use catalyst between retort and condenser. (again, read the forum).
- You can use the gas to heat the retort, but not as a primary heater.

- The ash and dust as far as i know remain in the reactor.


Let us know how the feeder is going for you, i find it to be a tricky business.

[markonah]

The process is really simple, it is similar to how alcohol is made. If you heat plastic waste in non oxygen environment, it will melt, but will not burn. After it has melted, it will start to boil and evaporate, you just need to put those vapors through a cooling pipe and when cooled the vapors will condense to a liquid and some of the vapors with shorter hydrocarbon lengths will remain as a gas. The exit of the cooling pipe is then going through a bubbler containing water to capture the last liquid forms of fuel and leave only gas that is then burned. If the cooling of the cooling tube is sufficient, there will be no fuel in the bubbler, but if not, the water will capture all the remaining fuel that will float above the water and can be poured off the water. On the bottom of the cooling tube is a steel reservoir that collects all the liquid and it has a release valve on the bottom so that the liquid fuel can be poured out

[Babataku]

Please Read and Understand first

Thanks for all

I want to install 1000 lts/day plant.

I need Help, Can anyone give me drawing of the plant along with dimensions.

turnplasticwasteintodieselfuel11_zpscea091cb.jpg Photo by syed722 | Photobucket

Hi Syed

Its very clear that you have not read the whole thread and you do not fully understand how the whole process goes. I strongly recommend that you read the and FULLY understand the information here, its for your own good and safety. Yes the process sounds simple in theory and might be relatively easy to implement BUT is also VERY VERY DANGEROUS. Please be Careful, 1000Ltr per Day system is huge and i am sure they are not many people on this thread who have built or attempted such a system although they have years of experience with their pilot system

My Advice is:

1. Read the Thread in Full or at least the 1st 80pages or so.
2. Start building a small prototype maybe 10 - 20Ltr batch. Once you understand and build confidence you can scale it up. At least if something goes wrong on a small system, the risk is also smaller!
3. Lastly Think of Safety First! As it is i am worried you might get into trouble.

1 Dont mean to discourage you but i am trying to help you.

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Thx for the info. It has helped tremendously in deciding what I need to do. I am no longer planning on condensing the gas for liquid use at a latter time but am now more interested in using the gas directly to power a generator, which will provide heat to my system and later my home.

Seeing the info about how it was used as an anti-knocking agent in engines was very interesting. What I'm thinking right now is that I can put PCB's (Printed Circuit boards, not the chemical PCB's) into a reactor with other cleaner sources of plastic like old bottles will dilute the amount of bromine but it will still be present which may help reduce engine knocking. As much as a fire retardant may lower the overall energy value of a fuel, the ability to let the fuel burn slower is very good for internal combustion engines.

Also I'm thinking that any lead left on the PCB's from soder may also bind with the bromine which again will reduce engine knocking.

But the thing is that the Bromine is not good for the environment. There probably won't be anything too poisonous made from it, at least not in any major amounts, but it is a major cause of the depleting O3 layer.

It occurred to me after posting my response to you, that the brominated plastics industry might be really interested in someone pyrolysing brominated plastics and selling them some fraction of it for reuse in making brominated plastics.
That is a good question, syed722. Certainly a flange at the top big enough to put a cleaning tool in would help; and possibly another flange at the bottom to push the coke out.

A simpler way to decoke a cracking retort is once the volatiles have been evaporated from the retort, then the retort can be taken up to 1200F (650c), then air, or O2 is bleed in slowly. Oxygen will burn the coke to ash, and the burning of the coke will sustain the heat in the retort at 1200F (650c) until all of the coke is burned off, then the retort is allowed to cool, then it can be pressurized to 1 atmosphere, if your retort can handle the pressure, then a large valve at the bottom is opened, whoosh goes the ash out of the retort. That is how we did it at Chevron Research.

4) I will change Feeder to Screw Feeder.
5) I want to heat source with wood and charcoal. Can I used gas which is coming from Bubbler to heat Source is it possible (to reduce wood and charcoal)?

In that case, then you could burn the coke from your previous run to fire the next run.

Yes, you can direct the gasses from your bubbler to a burner under your retort (see Excalibur's comment).

6) I will fix Reflux in between Condensate and Bubbler.
7) I want to use Cyclone to collect ash and dust. And with the help of pipe I will remove ASH and DUST.

We at Chevron Research did this on continuous process cat cracking units.

8) I want to used Synthetic Gas which coming out from Bubbler to heat up Reactor.
9) In some web I have seen that there is no Condensation process so, I bypass it straight to bubbler.
10) Ok

Yes, the more primitive pyrolysis units dump the condensate right into the bubbler. It works fine on a desktop model, but not for a commercial use.

[Beyond Biodiesel]

[Babataku]

Uncondensed Gases

Hi All

I am busy completing my new processing plant of 250Ltr Capacity per batch. It will be fired by a Diesel Burner. I have a question though, i need some advice:

1. I want to channel back the uncondensed gases to the combustion chamber to burn them off and get some heat benefit there. My concern is the diesel burner will cycle on & off to maintain the temp, if the diesel burner cycles OFF and the flame from the uncondensed gases goes out, all those gases will build up in the chamber and when the burner cycles ON, there is risk of serious explosion. What are the chances the Flame will go out? i know excalibur is using a diesel burner as well and is burning the excess gases, how have you gone around this? Maybe a Pilot Flame?

I really need some pointers here. My last outfit was electricity powered and i would just flare off the excess gasses.