by Zac B. Sarian
Would you believe that waste plastics which are ordinarily a big problem to dispose can be converted into diesel and gasoline that can run engines?
The ordinary plastic materials include shopping bags, garbage bags and even styropor used in packing various products. All these can be converted into precious fuel that is 20 percent cheaper than the current price of diesel and gasoline.
The technology is newly patented and was one of those exhibited during the recent Inventors Week expo at the Philippine Trade Training Center along Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, under the auspices of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Holder of the patent which was released only last November 8 is inventor Jayme Navarro of Bacolod City. The waste plastics are converted into diesel and gasoline through what Navarro calls depolymerization of the materials. Assorted plastics are first shredded into evenly-sized pieces and then entered into an agglomeration chamber.
The shredded plastic enters a feeding screw where it is melted and the polymers are mixed with a catalyst. The melted plastic goes to a specially-designed pyrolysis chamber where depolymerization occurs, and where hydrocarbon gases are produced. It then passes through distillation (to separate different hydrocarbon chains), filtration and centrifuge (to remove contaminants and impurities).
Besides the gasoline and diesel, light gases are also produced which are purified, compressed and stored. These gases are used as fuel in the process of depolymerization.
Navarro said that the process is done entirely inside a vacuum so no resultant chemicals are released into the environment, The conversion efficiency rate is 75 to 80 percent, depending on feedstock components. That means it can produce 750 to 800 liters of fuel from one ton of raw materials.
Navarro said that he has been involved in the plastic industry in the last 30 years, using plastic scraps as feedstock in producing plastic twine, straw and stick. During the oil embargo in 1973, he started his first experiment in converting plastic waste to liquid hydrocarbons, and again during the first Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
However, because of the cheap price and abundant supply of crude oil during those years, it was not financially viable to pursue the project. He said that with the recent environmental issues regarding the disposal of waste plastics, and the high price of crude oil prompted him to develop his original technology of converting plastic waste into fuel.
Navarro said that after years of intense efforts in improving, refining and scaling the technology, he was able to conduct the first trial run of a prototype conversion plant that successfully produced liquid hydrocarbon in December 2007. Then in February 2008, he sent samples to the Department of Energy and DOST for analysis.
He said that the results confirmed that the fuel produced has all the properties of regular diesel fuel, but with substantially lowered sulfur contents, which means it is less polluting. The fuel can be used for different applications involving standard diesel engines.
Navarro revealed that his company, Poly-Green Technology and Resources, Inc., will put up a manufacturing plant in Montalban, Rizal early next year. The technology is modular in concept and may be developed in 5, 10 and 20 tons-per-day capacities. The operation can be carried out in smaller plants and processing may be situated wherever it is deemed feasible.
Source: Manila Bulletin, photo courtesy of http://globalplasticrecyclers.com, plc
Would you believe that waste plastics which are ordinarily a big problem to dispose can be converted into diesel and gasoline that can run engines?
The ordinary plastic materials include shopping bags, garbage bags and even styropor used in packing various products. All these can be converted into precious fuel that is 20 percent cheaper than the current price of diesel and gasoline.
The technology is newly patented and was one of those exhibited during the recent Inventors Week expo at the Philippine Trade Training Center along Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, under the auspices of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Holder of the patent which was released only last November 8 is inventor Jayme Navarro of Bacolod City. The waste plastics are converted into diesel and gasoline through what Navarro calls depolymerization of the materials. Assorted plastics are first shredded into evenly-sized pieces and then entered into an agglomeration chamber.
The shredded plastic enters a feeding screw where it is melted and the polymers are mixed with a catalyst. The melted plastic goes to a specially-designed pyrolysis chamber where depolymerization occurs, and where hydrocarbon gases are produced. It then passes through distillation (to separate different hydrocarbon chains), filtration and centrifuge (to remove contaminants and impurities).
Besides the gasoline and diesel, light gases are also produced which are purified, compressed and stored. These gases are used as fuel in the process of depolymerization.
Navarro said that the process is done entirely inside a vacuum so no resultant chemicals are released into the environment, The conversion efficiency rate is 75 to 80 percent, depending on feedstock components. That means it can produce 750 to 800 liters of fuel from one ton of raw materials.
Navarro said that he has been involved in the plastic industry in the last 30 years, using plastic scraps as feedstock in producing plastic twine, straw and stick. During the oil embargo in 1973, he started his first experiment in converting plastic waste to liquid hydrocarbons, and again during the first Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
However, because of the cheap price and abundant supply of crude oil during those years, it was not financially viable to pursue the project. He said that with the recent environmental issues regarding the disposal of waste plastics, and the high price of crude oil prompted him to develop his original technology of converting plastic waste into fuel.
Navarro said that after years of intense efforts in improving, refining and scaling the technology, he was able to conduct the first trial run of a prototype conversion plant that successfully produced liquid hydrocarbon in December 2007. Then in February 2008, he sent samples to the Department of Energy and DOST for analysis.
He said that the results confirmed that the fuel produced has all the properties of regular diesel fuel, but with substantially lowered sulfur contents, which means it is less polluting. The fuel can be used for different applications involving standard diesel engines.
Navarro revealed that his company, Poly-Green Technology and Resources, Inc., will put up a manufacturing plant in Montalban, Rizal early next year. The technology is modular in concept and may be developed in 5, 10 and 20 tons-per-day capacities. The operation can be carried out in smaller plants and processing may be situated wherever it is deemed feasible.
Source: Manila Bulletin, photo courtesy of http://globalplasticrecyclers.com, plc
1 comment:
Hello! Our family runs a plastic trading/recycling business in Bacolod. We are looking for ways to recycle plastic bags and cellophanes until I stumbled upon this article. Is there a way to contact Poly-Green Technology for this matter?
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