IAETSD JOURNAL FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH IN APPLIED SCIENCES, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1, JAN-JUNE /2017

ISSN (ONLINE): 2394-8442

PLASTIC TO FUEL CONVERSION

(PROCEESING PLASTIC TO CREATE FUEL)
Prof. Mansi Ghamande [1], Nirmity Bomidwar [2], Gayatri Salonkhe [3],
Atharva Madgaikar [4], Atharv Kulkarni [5], Meghana Dhavale [6]
[1,2,3,4,5,6]
Department of Engineering Sciences and Humanities
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (An Autonomous Institute affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University)
manasi.ghamande@vit.edu

ABSTRACT.

Plastic bottles lying in the gutter. Grocery bags tangled in branches. Food wrappers scuttling
across the ground on a windy day. Although such examples of litter easily come to mind, they only hint at the
serious and growing problem of PLASTIC POLLUTION a problem mostly hidden from view. The problem
with plastics is they do not easily degrade. They may break down, but only into smaller pieces. The smaller
those pieces get the more places they can go. This report introduces a scientific, efficient and beneficial way to
tackle this problem; with the ever increasing demand of fuel it is necessary to ensure a suitable, efficient source.
Using plastics to generate fuel is efficient, economical and environment friendly.

Keywords plastic waste management, paralysis, plant setup, future scope.

I. INTRODUCTION
Plastic pollution involves the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans.
Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized into micro-, meso-, or macro-debris, based on size. The prominence of plastic pollution is
correlated with plastics being inexpensive and durable [1], which lends to high levels of plastics used by humans. However, it is slow to degrade.
Plastic pollution can unfavorably affect lands, waterways and oceans. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can also be affected
through entanglement, direct ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that cause interruptions in biological
functions [2]. The project selected is to understand and propagate the lesser known scientific method to convert it to fuel which is highly
demanded due crisis of supply of conventional.

II. PLASTIC
A. USES

Fibers, textiles. Carbonated drinks bottles, peanut butter jars, plastic film, microwavable packaging. Wide range of inexpensive uses including
supermarket bags, plastic bottles. Detergent bottles, milk jugs, and molded plastic cases .Plumbing pipes and guttering, shower curtains, window
frames, flooring. Food packaging, such as Saran. Outdoor furniture, siding, floor tiles, shower curtains, clamshell packaging. Bottle caps,
drinking straws, yogurt containers, appliances, car fenders (bumpers), plastic pressure pipe systems. Foam peanuts, food containers, plastic
tableware, disposable cups, plates, cutlery [3], compact-disc (CD) and cassette boxes. Refrigerator liners, food packaging, vend cups. Fibers,
toothbrush bristles, tubing, fishing line, low-strength machine parts such as engine parts or gun frames. Electronic equipment cases (e.g.
computer monitors, printers, keyboards), drainage pipe.

B. PROBLEMS

Plastic being non degradable, its hard to decompose plastic. It becomes a biggest disadvantage after its use, which causes pollution. Also it
takes lot of space for dumping that in turns affects the soil quality for generations. Due to the pollution of plastic bags, bottles the rivers are
getting clogged. The nature is suffering because of thrown plastic on road, hills. Many animals die by eating plastic.

To Cite This Article: Prof. Mansi Ghamande, Nirmity Bomidwar, Gayatri Salonkhe, Atharva Madgaikar, Atharv Kulkarni
and Meghana Dhavale,. PLASTIC TO FUEL CONVERSION (PROCEESING PLASTIC TO CREATE FUEL). Journal
for Advanced Research in Applied Sciences ;Pages: 416-419
417. Prof. Mansi Ghamande, Nirmity Bomidwar, Gayatri Salonkhe, Atharva Madgaikar, Atharv Kulkarni and Meghana
Dhavale,. PLASTIC TO FUEL CONVERSION (PROCEESING PLASTIC TO CREATE FUEL). Journal for Advanced
Research in Applied Sciences; Pages: 416-419

III. FUEL
A. USES

Fuels serve as a major part of our energy requirement. They are the concentrated store of energy, which is related as heat when fuels are burnt.
Fuels are combustible substances of organic origin or artificially obtained substances, which are used for producing heat and energy. Wood,
diesel [4], coal .domestic gas, petrol and biogas are some of the examples of fuels. Fuels play an important role in our everyday life because they
are used in homes, transport and industry for providing energy.

For domestic use: Fuels like wood, coal, kerosene, domestic gas, cow dung etc. are used in our homes for cooking.
For transport: Coal, diesel and petrol are used as fuel for road, sea and air transport in automobiles and locomotives. For example, coal is used
for running steam engines; Petrol and diesel are used for running buses, cars, trucks, aeroplanes, etc.
In industry: Fuels like coal and natural gas are used in industries to heat up boilers.
To generate electricity: Specially prepared fuels like hydrazine (NH2 NH2) are used in rockets to explore space.
As rocket fuel: Specially prepared fuels like hydrazine (NH2 NH2) are used in rockets to explore space.

IV. THE PROCESS: PYROLYSIS

BRIEF PROCESS:

Pre-treatment: to process the feedstock so that it can be fed into the pyrolysis unit.
Pyrolysis: heating the feedstock to between 250 and 300C, to convert it from solid to vapour and gas.
Condensation: to recover the vapours from the pyrolysis unit as an unrefined oil product.
Acid removal: chiefly to remove hydrogen chloride produced by conversion of PVC.
Purification: to convert the unrefined oil into a material ready for sale.

Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of organic materials at temperatures between 200 and 1,000C in the absence of oxygen. This results in the
devolatalisation and decomposition of the feedstock, but the absence of oxygen means that no combustion occurs. Pyrolysis produces gas, liquid
and solid char, the relative proportions of which depend upon the method of pyrolysis and the operating conditions of the pyrolysis reactor,
chiefly the rate of heating [5], the operating temperature and residence time within the pyrolysis reactor. Long residence times and low heating
rates are typical of processes such as charcoal manufacture, effectively converting the majority of the carbon present in the feedstock into
elemental carbon. As residence time reduces and heating rate increases [6,7], the proportion of liquid produced increases as there is sufficient
heat in the system to boil off any compounds formed by the breaking of polymer chains. Very short residence times and high temperatures give
conditions very similar to those encountered in the gasification process, and consequently produce more gas. For the purposes of conversion of
plastic into oil products, maximization of liquids production is desirable, as this will give a material which can be easily transported and refined.

At around 150 degree celcius The gas produced contains, gases like ,hydrogen ,methane ,propane ,etc starts .These gases are captured and
recirculated for the next heating cycle of the process . the remaining gases in the container/reactor are then condensed and poly fuel is released .
Gases released have a moderate to high calorific value (ca. 1517MJ/m3). It is often used to provide some of the energy required to heat the
feedstock to the operating temperature, either directly or by using an internal combustion engine to drive a generator for electrical heat input.
The liquids produced vary depending on the purification strategy employed by the technology supplier. Generally, the liquid produced by the
pyrolysis unit will have a wide boiling point range and include some entrained char. This unrefined oil is only suitable for use as a heating fuel
(and some is used for supplying energy to the process), but could be shipped as-is for refining in a conventional oil refinery. When refining is
an integral part of the process, this is normally achieved by distillation, to produce a diesel product suitable for use as a vehicle fuel, as well as a
heavier residue which can be used for process heat. The char produced contains any materials that do not decompose during pyrolysis, such as
metals and glass, and also the carbon that is produced by the pyrolysis reactions. This material is inert and suitable for disposal by landfill, as the
metals present are at low concentration and do not tend to leach out from the carbon matrix. In addition, its carbon content also gives it the
potential to be used as a solid fuel.

V. LIMITATIONS
The major shortcoming of the pyrolysis process is the limitation to scale of operation. In the majority of cases, heat is supplied to the pyrolysis
chamber indirectly, either by burning the gas and a portion of the liquid product in an external chamber or by application of electrical heating to
the walls or floor of the pyrolysis chamber. Increasing the throughput of the plant increases the volume of the chamber in proportional to the
required residence time, but the relative surface area of the chamber does not increase in the same proportion.

Advantages

Relatively high yield as useful product

Core technology well understood
Commercial-scale projects operational
Moderate operating temperatures mean that conventional materials of construction can be used and this lowers costs

Challenges
Scale of operation, although perhaps better suited to distributed operations
Net hydrogen deficiency
Char disposal or utilization not established
418. Prof. Mansi Ghamande, Nirmity Bomidwar, Gayatri Salonkhe, Atharva Madgaikar, Atharv Kulkarni and Meghana
Dhavale,. PLASTIC TO FUEL CONVERSION (PROCEESING PLASTIC TO CREATE FUEL). Journal for Advanced
Research in Applied Sciences; Pages: 416-419

Plastic used for the process

Milk Bags / Oil Bags

Food , Yogurt containers/ Plastic Glassess
Cooking Oil Canisters
Laminate Tubes (Tooth paste, Medicines )
Carry Bags ( all micron thickness)
Blister Packing, Bubble wraps
PET bottles (Bisleri, soft drinks, Toilet cleaning material, )
Shampoo/ powder bottles / empty sachet
Detergent Bags (Surf, Tide, Excel, Nirma etc)
Food Item Bags (Wafer, Kurkure, Farsan, etc) wrappers
Blister Packing, Bubble wraps
Plastic flowers, Buckets

Outcome

This process gives three products.

I. Poly-fuel - This can be segregated and used as per requirement (diesel, petrol, fuel for generators, machines, etc?)
II. Gases hydrogen, methane, propane, etc. are the gases released during the process, which is used as fuel to run the machine itself.
III. Sludge (char) it is rich in polymers which can be combined with bitumen and used to make roads. For every 100kg of plastic, 45 to65 liters
of fuel is generated. 20 % of input is converted to gas, leaving behind water and sludge (which can be used further).

In this way 100% of plastic waste is reused /recycled with no emission and no greater harm to environment.

VI. COMPOSITIONS
PLASTIC USED:

Low-density polyethylene

Ethylene (C2H4) is a gaseous hydrocarbon commonly produced by the cracking of ethane, which in turn is a major constituent of natural gas or
can be distilled from petroleum. Ethylene molecules are essentially composed of two methylene units (CH 2) linked together by a double bond
between the carbon atomsa structure represented by the formula CH2=CH2. Under the influence of polymerization catalysts, the double bond
can be broken and the resultant extra single bond used to link to a carbon atom in another ethylene molecule. Thus, made into the repeating unit
of a large, polymeric (multiple-unit) molecule, ethylene has the following chemical structure:.

This simple structure, repeated thousands of times in a single molecule, is the key to the properties of polyethylene. The long, chainlike
molecules, in which hydrogen atoms are connected to a carbon backbone, can be produced in linear or branched forms. Branched versions are
known as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) or linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE); linear versions are known as high-density
polyethylene (HDPE) and ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE).

FUEL FORMED

The fuel formed is mainly the composition of carbon and hydrogen. Large polymer chain of carbon and hydrogen is present in the oil. The fuel
obtained is the poly-fuel .i.e. it is the mixture of diesel, petrol, normal basic fuel. Without any process on the fuel, it can be used as a fuel to run
machines and generators .i.e. it can be used as energy source. On segregating the mixture and having done some process, it can used as diesel or
petrol.

VII. SCOPE OF PROJECT

Consideration could be given to adjusting the regulatory and fiscal incentives in order to provide similar incentives for oil and power generated
from waste by advanced thermal conversion processes to those provided for power and liquid fuels produced from biogenic materials.
Government should reduce the technical and commercial risk for potential project promoters by conducting practical trials to demonstrate the
quality and composition of the oils that could be produced by one or more of the leading processes from low-grade waste plastic.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to honourable director Prof.R.M.Jalnekar, respected HOD Prof.C.M.Mahajan ,project guide
Prof.Manasi Ghamande maam project co-ordinator Prof.Nagnath sir , and the Mechanical Workshop faculty ,for their help and support as
and when required . We would like to specially thanks The Rudra Industriesand Mr.Shirish Phadtare for the industry guidance provided
by them. This project would not have been possible without the help of the institute and the above mentioned faculty.
419. Prof. Mansi Ghamande, Nirmity Bomidwar, Gayatri Salonkhe, Atharva Madgaikar, Atharv Kulkarni and Meghana
Dhavale,. PLASTIC TO FUEL CONVERSION (PROCEESING PLASTIC TO CREATE FUEL). Journal for Advanced
Research in Applied Sciences; Pages: 416-419

REFRENCES
1. THE INDUSTRIAL VISIT TO RUDRA INDUSTRIES.
2. 24 NCRIET.pdf
3. Whatisrudra.pdf
4. Pyrolysisplant.com
5. https://www.hindawi.com
6. https://researchtrend.net
7. www.academia.edu
8. www.zerowastescotland.org