Investigation of Chemical Properties of Pyrolysis Oil Extracted from Waste Plastics

 

Investigation of Chemical Properties of Pyrolysis
Oil Extracted from Waste Plastics

 

Zeeshan Ali1*

Assistant Professor,

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Navodaya Institute of Technology,

Raichur-584101, Karnataka, India.

 

Dr. P. Rathnakumar2*

Professor and Head,

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Navodaya Institute of Technology,

Raichur-584101, Karnataka, India

 

Mohammed Ashfaq Hussain3*, Roma E3*, Mohammed Afridi3*, S Sampath Kumar3*

UG Scholar,

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Navodaya Institute of Technology,

Raichur-584101, Karnataka, India.

 

Abstract–Energy shortages and rapid increase in its demand
are amongst the major problems facing the world today. In
response to the rapid depletion of fossils fuels, other alternative
energy sources have been explored. One of the methods of
generating energy is converting plastics into usable fuel. Two
major problems facing the world today prompting to pyrolysis
are disposal of plastic waste due to their non -biodegradable
nature and depletion of fossil fuels as a result of the continuously
rising demand. The feedstock for the pyrolysis plant was
selected to be Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) in the form of
flakes ranging from 8 – 12 mm and was supplied by PETRECO.

The conversion of plastic to high quality pyrolysis oil
through pyrolysis process is highly advisable as the oil produced
has high calorific value than that of commercial fuel.

Keywords:–Plastic Waste, Pyrolysis, Fuel Production, Paraffin

I. INTRODUCTION

Plastics are organic compounds having long chained
hydrocarbon synthesized from petroleum products. Because
of its own special features plastic had acquired wide
popularity in short time. Plastic production and consumption
rate increased exponentially due to its low cost, non-
degradable nature, easy availability and management, wide
range of usage and application. According to the estimate
given by APME (Association of Plastic Manufacturers
Europe), the global production of plastic has crossed 280
million tons in 2011 and it is increasing exponentially [1].
The increasing demand of plastic products also increases the
accumulation of plastic waste that endangers the environment
because of their disposal problems [2].The rising plastics
demand also led to the exhaustion of non-renewable crude oil
as plastics are petroleum-based material. To minimize the
adverse environmental impacts of plastic waste, many
organizations are implemented with plastic waste
management systems, for control/reduction of plastic waste
formation.

The term pyrolysis describes the decomposition of polymers
(Ex:-resins, cellulose) gaseous hydrocarbons (Ex: –
acetylene), hydrocarbon-rich oils and various others organic
materials such as petroleum by-products, inducedsolely by
heat pyrolysis.Due to the fossil fuel crisis in past decade,
mankind has to focus on developing the alternate energy
sources such as biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy,
wind energy, solar energy, and nuclear energy. The
developing of alternative-fuel technologies are investigated to
deliver the replacement of fossil fuel. The focused
technologies are bio-ethanol, bio-diesel lipid derived bio-fuel,
waste oil recycling, pyrolysis, gasification, dimethyl ether,
and biogas. On the other hand, appropriate waste
management strategy is another important aspect of
sustainable development since waste problem is concerned in
every city.

The waste to energy technology is investigated to process the
potential materials in waste which are plastic, biomass and
rubber tire to be oil. Pyrolysis process becomes an option of
waste-to-energy technology to deliver bio-fuel to replace
fossil fuel. Waste plastic and waste tire are investigated in
this research as they are the available technology.3.. The
advantage of the pyrolysis process is its ability to handle un-
sort and dirty plastic. The pre-treatment of the material is
easy. Tire is needed to be shredded while plastic is needed to
be sorted and dried. Pyrolysis is also no toxic or
environmental harmful emission unlike incineration.

Economic growth and changing consumption and production
patterns are resulting into rapid increase in generation of
waste plastics in the world. For more than 50 years the global
production of plastic has continued to rise.

Approximately 10–20 million tons of plastic end up in the
oceans each year. A recent study conservatively estimated
that 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing a total of 268,940
tons are currently floating in the world’s oceans. And since
plastic being a non-biodegradable material it remains into the
soil, thereby polluting the environment.

Pyrolysis is an alternative thermolytic technique used to
convert biomass into fuel. Pyrolysis or thermolysis is in
essence of an irreversible thermo chemical treatment process
of complex solid or fluid chemical substances at elevated

temperature, in an inert or oxygen-free atmosphere involves
chemical change of chemical composition & physical phase.
(Irreversible process) does not involve reactions with oxygen
water or any other reagents in practice. It is not possible to
achieve a completely oxygen-free atmosphere because some
oxygen is present in any pyrolysis system, a small amount of
oxidation occurs. The plastic is pyrolyzed at 6000-7000 C &
The pyrolysis gases are condensed in a series of condensers
to give a low sulphur content distillate. On the other hand,
appropriate waste management strategy is another important
aspect of sustainable development since waste problem is
concerned in every city.15, 16.. As we know that both
Plastics and Petroleum derived fuels are Hydrocarbons that
contain the elements of Carbon & Hydrogen. Pyrolysis
process becomes an option of waste-to-energy technology to
deliver bio-fuel to replace fossil fuel. The advantage of the
pyrolysis process is its ability to handle un sort and dirty
plastic. The pre-treatment of the material is easy. Plastic is
needed to be sorted and dried. Pyrolysis is also no toxic or
non-environmental harmful emission unlike incineration.

 

. Availability :- Waste recycled plastics:
• Polypropylene (PP):-food containers, appliances, car
fenders (bumpers), plastic pressure pipe systems.
• Polystyrene (PS):-packing foam, food containers,
disposable cups, plates, cutlery, CD & cassette
boxes.
• High impact polystyrene (HIPS):-fridge liners, food
packaging, vending cups.
• Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS):-electronic
equipment’s cases (Example: – computer monitors,
printer, keyboards) , drainage pipe.
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET):-carbonated drinks
bottles, jars , plastic film , microwavable packing.
• Polyester (PES):-fibre, textiles.
• Polyamides (PA) (Nylons):-fibres, toothbrush
bristles, fishing line, under the hood car engine
moulding.
• Polyvinyl chloride (PA) (Nylon):-plumbing pipes &
guttering, shower curtains, window frames, flooring.
• Polyurethanes (PU) :-cushioning foams , thermal
insulation foams , surface coating , printings rollers

CHARACTERISTICS OF PLASTICS AND OIL
PRODUCTS:-

Before looking at the process options for the conversion of
plastic into oil Products, it is worth considering the
characteristics of these two materials, to identify where
Similarities exist, and the basic methods of conversion. The
principal similarities are that they are made mostly of carbon
and hydrogen, and that they are made of molecules that are
formed in chains of carbon atoms.

Crude oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, which are
separated, and Purified by distillation and other processes at
an oil refinery. The majority of the crude oil is used for the
production of fuels for transportation, heating and power
generation. These oil products are not single components, but
are a blend of components used to meet the relevant fuel
specifications in the most economic manner, given the
composition of the crude oil and the configuration of the oil
refinery. These components have a wide range of chain
lengths: gasoline has compounds with a chain length of
between three and 10 carbon atoms, and diesel has
compounds with a chain length of between five and 18
carbon atoms, but both contain only hydrogen and carbon.

Plastic is a generic term for a wide range of polymers
produced using highly refined fractions of crude oil, or
chemicals derived from crude oil, known as monomers.14..
Polymers are formed by the reaction of these monomers,
which results in chain lengths of tens or hundreds of
thousands of carbon atoms.12.. Some polymers also contain
oxygen (e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PET)), whereas
others contain chlorine (polyvinyl chloride (PVC)).13.. It is
worth noting that only a small proportion (< 5%) of the crude
oil processed in the world is used to produce the monomers
(e.g.ethane, propene) used in the manufacture of polymers
(e.g. polyethene, polypropylene).

Percentage of carbon & Hydrogen in different fuels

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Gasoline

Diesel

Biodiesel

PETE

HDPE

PVC

PP

PS

Waste plastic

Fuels in Percentage%

Fuels

carbons

hydrogen

others

Experimental work:-

Materials:-Recycled plastics like polyethylene (PE),
polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), high density
polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE).

Usually they are manufactured in the form of plastic
bags, saline bottles, plastic tools, chairs and other
components which we usually come across in our day to day

life. These plastics could be collected or usually purchased at
Rs.10 to 15/kg after being shredded and washed properly.

 

Plastic for fuel production

Recycling of plastic is difficult and costly because of the
restrictions on contamination of water and labor intensive
segregation of different plastics before recycle which is labor
intensive [4]. Clearly transparent plastics can be easily dyed
to transform into new products, have greater flexibility and
are mostly desirable by the manufacturers [5, 6]. Recycling
plastic is energy intensive too. As there is an alarming
depletion of energy sources, means of energy recovery from
plastic waste is a good option. Pyrolysis is a suitable method
for energy recovery from plastic waste and is one of the finest
techniques for the conversion of mass to energy with liquid
and gaseous products with high energy values [6]. Figure
1represents the processes involved in the pyrolysis of plastic.

Collection of Plastic
waste

.

Cutting & Shedding

.

Heating + catalysis

.

De-Polymerization

 

.

Pyrolysis oil + Carbon
black + Gas

 

.

Distillation and
Purification

.

Petrol, Kerosene, Diesel

Flow chart of plastic pyrolysis process

Pyrolysis or thermal cracking involves thermal degradation of
long chain polymer molecules into less complex smaller
molecules. The process takes place in the absence of oxygen
at increased pressure and temperature for a short duration.

Pyrolysis process is proposed by many researchers since the
process is able to produce large quantity of liquid oil up to 80
wt% at temperatures around 500°C[8]. The process
parameters can be altered to generate products based on
personal preferences. Hence pyrolysis is often referred as a
flexible process. The liquid oil produced is of high quality as
it cans be used in multiple applications without any up
gradation or treatment [7]. The gaseous fuel produced as the
byproduct of pyrolysis, can be reused to compensate the
energy requirement of the pyrolysis plants the gaseous fuel
produced is of high calorific value [9]. Pyrolysis is mostly
employed over common recycling processes since handling is
much easier and flexible. Moreover, pyrolysis does not
require intense sorting process and hence it is less labor
intensive process. Many published research papers are
available on the potential of pyrolysis processes on various
types of plastics for liquid fuel production. The present
review comprehends the properties and use of various
categories of plastics and description of pyrolysis process for
fuel production for each category.

REACTOR

Fig Typical Feed for process

.It is a heart of out process, it is a air tight cylinder, it has a
capacity of 15.3 KG , this capacity is used to feed plastic in it,
it has exhaust hole at the top through which oil vapours are
exhausted , this oil vapour is passed to condenser and hence
pyrolysis oil is produced.

Reactor is a closed chamber which is used to burn the waste
plastics in the absence of oxygen, which has only one
opening at the top for the flow of exhaust gases to condenser.

FIRING CHAMBER

.It has a capacity of 200 LTR, it consists of all other
equipment’s like burners, reactors (LPG cylinder)
connections and sand, it has manholes for air circulation and
for burner connections.

BURNERS:

.These burners are 1 feet long and 3 in number, which are
connected to tank, where it is used to heat the reactor at a
temperature around 7000C.

CONDENSER: –

. Condenser is a device or unit used to condense a gaseous
substance into a liquid state through cooling; here water-
cooled condenser is used to condense the vapor.

Connecting tube: –

.Connecting tube provides LPG gas passage from the
cylinder to the chamber; in this process copper coil tubes are
used.

Result and discussion:-

Flash Point-The flash point is the lowest temperature at
which a volatile substance evaporate to form an ignitable
mixture which air in the presence of an igneous source an
continues burning after the trigger source is removed.

The instrument which is used to identify the flash point is
Abel’s flash point.

The automatic Abel closed – cup tester measures the flash
points, the lowest temperature at which the vapor of the
sample ignites upon the applications of ignition source.

Series 1

petrol

-43

diesel

60

jet fuel

38

pyrolysis oil

35

-50

-30

-10

10

30

50

70

90

TEMPERATURE IN
0
C

Flash Point of different Fuels

Viscosity-Viscosity is a measure of a fluids resistance to
flow. where viscometer is an instrument to measure the
viscosity of the fluid. An instrument which is used to
calculate viscosity is Say bolt and Redwood Viscometer.

A viscometer invented by say bolt for measuring the viscosity
of petroleum based liquids, typically consisting of an oil tube
surrounded by a heated bath which controls the temperature
of the liquid.

A standard British – type viscometer in which the viscosity is
determined by the time in seconds, required for a certain
quality of liquids to pass out through the orifice under given
conditions; used for determining viscosity of petroleum oils.

0.006

2.5

11.31

1.98

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 1

VISCOSITY cSt

petrol

diesel

jet fuel

pyrolysis oil

Viscosity of Different Fuels

Calorific value:-The energy contain in fuel or food,
determined by measuring the heat produced by the complete
combustion of a specified quantity of it this is usually
expressed in Mega joules per Kg.

An instrument which is used to calculate Calorific value is
Bomb Calorimeter.

Bomb Calorimeter-A thick – walled steel container used to
determine the energy contained in a substance by measuring
the heat generated during its combustion.

45.8

45.5

0

41

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

petrol

diesel

jet fuel

pyrolysis

CALORIFIC VALUE IN MJ/KG

Calorific value of Different Fuels

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Fuels

TEMPERATURE IN
0
C

petrol

diesel

jet fuel

pyrolysis oil

Boiling point of Different Fuels

Series 1

petrol

0

desiel

93

jet fuel

-53

pyrolysis oil

39

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Temperature in
0
C

Fire point of Different Fuels

RESULT

Pyrolysis of plastics has been studied extensively in the past
.10, 11. , 1Kg of waste plastic will get 900ml oil can be
extracted and 100gm of gas can be extracted and the
remaining this is carbon block. In the pyrolysis the oil will be
collected at different temperature. At the 1300C 20% oil, at
2100C 30% oil, at 2500 40% oil, at 3000 60% and at 4300 C
90% oil will be collected.

Fuels

Boiling
point

(0C)

Flash
point(0C)

Fire
point(0C)

Calorific
valve(MJ/Kg)

Viscosity

cSt

Petrol

2100

-430

–

45.8

0.006

Diesel

1500 to
3800

600

930

45.5

2.5-3.2

Jet
fuel

1750-
3000

380

-530

–

11.31

Pyrolysis oil

430-
2760

350-
360

390-420

41-44

1.98

CONCLUSION

Cost for the fuel is increasing day by day and also the
problem arising due to the improper waste disposal of plastics
are increasing in our country.

This plastic to fuel machine can solve both these problem in
the most efficient manner. This process offers many
advantages such as:

• Problem of disposal of waste plastic is solved.
• Waste plastic is converted into high value fuels.
• Environmental pollution is controlled.
• Industrial and automobile fuel requirement shall be
fulfilled to some extent at lower price.
• No pollutants are created during cracking of plastics.

The crude oil and the gas can be used for generation of
electricity.

REFERENCE:-

[1] An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste
data-Belgium (Association of Plastic Manufacturers Europe)
[2] Common wastes and materials US 2014 (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency)
[3] Shell Group of Companies, the Petroleum Handbook, 6th ed.,
Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1983, p. 235.
[4] Masanet E, Auer R, Tsuda D, Barillot T and Baynes A 2002 An
assessment and prioritization of design for recycling guidelines for
plastic components in electronics and the environment IEEE
international symposium
[5] Heikkinen JM, Hordijk JC, de Jong W and Spliethoff H 2004
Thermogravimetry as a tool to classify waste components to be used
for energy generation J Anal Appl Pyrol71
[6] Ahmad I, Ismail Khan M, Ishaq M, Khan H, Gul K and Ahmad W
2013 Catalytic efficiency of some novel nanostructured
heterogeneous solid catalysts in pyrolysis of HDPE
PolymDegradStab98 pp 2512–19
[7] Bridgwater AV 2012 Review of fast pyrolysis of biomass and
product upgrading biomass Bioenergy 38 pp 68–94
[8] Abnisa F and Wan Daud WMA 2014 A review on co-pyrolysis of
biomass: an optional technique to obtain a high-grade pyrolysis oil
Energy Convers Manage 87 pp71–85.
[9] Cepeliogullar O and Putun AE 2013 Utilization of two different
types of plastic wastes from daily and industrial life. In: ed Ozdemir
C, Sahinkaya S, Kalipci E and Oden (MK ICOEST Cappadocia) pp
1–13
[10] J.G. Schoeters, A. Buekens, in: K.J. Thome´-Kozmiensky (Ed.), In
ternational Recycling Congress, Freitag Verlag, Berlin, 1979
[11] W. Kaminsky, H. Sinn, J. Doring, J. Janning, H. Timman, in:
International Recycling Congress, Freitag Verlag, Berlin, 1979.

[12] J.G. Schoeters, A. Buekens, in: K.J. Thome´-Kozmiensky (Ed.),
International Recycling Congress, Freitag Verlag, Berlin, 1979.
[13] T. Faravelli, M. Pinciroli, F. Pisano, G. Bozzano, M. Dente, E.
Ranzi, J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 60 (2001) 103–121.
[14] R.C. Dorf, Energy Resources and Policy, Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company, California, 1977.
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