International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Alternative Fuel from Synthetic Plastics Waste

S.N.Sivanesh

sivasakthivel93@gmail.com

S.Sivasakthivel

selvinjose93@gmail.com

M.Selvinjose

R.RajaArasu

rajaarasu1990@gmail.com shivaneshsn@gmail.com

Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Ponjesly college of Engineering, Nagercoil, India.

ABSTRACT: Waste plastics from our Environmental
surroundings were collected. It was to be sorted on the
basis
of
their
properties
and
types
like
(HDPE,LDPE,PP, PVC, and PEetc). They were graded
into nearly uniform size by shredder. The grade feed
was heated just to melt it so that extraneous impurities
such as hard metal, clay, sand settles in the bottom of
the melter are removed periodically. The waste plastics
are subjected to depolymerisation, pyrolysis to obtain
different value added fuels such as petrol, kerosene, and
diesel. Recycling waste was decreased because of the
recycling policy and campaign. Amount of solid waste
was decreased about 10%.Here the process of
converting waste plastic into value added fuels is
explained as a viable solution for recycling of plastics.
KeywordsDepolymerisation,
LDPE, PP, PE
I.

Catalytic

TABLE B) WASTES:

ENVT WASTE
Paper
Metals
Plastics
Textiles
Rubber
Other

Cracking,

TYP
E1
Type
1

RECYCLABL
E
Yes

POLYETHYLE
NE
High density
polyethylene

Type
2

Yes

Low density
polyethylene

Type
3

No

Poly vinyl
chloride

Type
4

Yes

Poly-propylene

INTRODUCTION

II.

IV.

COMPOSITION

Before MBT
(%)
7.05
1.1
2.92
67.11

BEVERAGE
S
Toys, oil
bottles,
outside parts
of plastic
waste
Shrink
wraps,
garment
bags
Automotive
parts, food
wraps
Refrigerated

EQUIPMENTS AND PROCESS:

The liquid fuel is produced mainly based on the

process called as Pyrolysis process. The thermal
decomposition in an oxygen free environment and cooling
it to a subsequent temperature is referred to be pyrolysis
process. Based on the conditions the plastics which are
suited for the process are isolated and are used. The
carbonous matter gradually develops as a deposit on the
inner surface of the reactor. The waste that remains on the
bottom layer should be removed in order to maintain high
efficiency of the reactor. The experimental setup involves

TABLE.A PLASTICCOMPOSITION:

PET
HDPE
PP
LDPE

After MBT (%)

.67
1.08
37.21
4.24
2.32
2.3

III.
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TABLE C) DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLASTICS

The compendium is mainly divided into two main

parts: part 1 consideration towards the manual aspects and
part 2, need to promote a way for fulfilling the scarcity of
fuels. Shredded plastics that are needed for each type of
fuel and the problems happens due to impurities and
contaminants are mainly focused in the part 1. Petroleum
products are hydrocarbons which are mainly produced
from fractional distillation or occurring from natural
products such as natural gas and coal. The production cost
of petroleum is ranging higher only due to quantity of coal
available. Therefore; the alternative fuel from synthetic
plastic waste is considerably interesting

Plastics

BeforeMBT (%)
9.06
089
32.09
3.32
.32
3.33

After MBT (%)

3.0
1.29
5.2
67

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

VI.

gas scrubber, feed reservoir, separation column, gas

bubbler, etc. Shredded plastics mixture was transformed to
the chamber. A wastes plastic to fuel production was
applied and the temperature range was applied 35 C to 390
C. The thermal degradation process should be continued
for several matters of hours. The temperature variations
should be clearly noticed. There shouldnt be any fall or
rise in temperature. The process takes about 4-5 hours. The
toxic gases that are produced from heating the plastics
should be treated. Only after treating it should be
discharged in the atmosphere. The treatment is mainly
through scrubbers and water/chemical treatment. Most of
the waste toxic gases get ignited within the boiler since
there is any supply of oxygen. The hot gases are then
subjected to the condenser.

CALCULATION:

Viscosity = AT-BT/T cm/sec

Plastic + catalyst = liquid fuel + unreacted plastic

VII.

PYROLYSIS PROCESS:

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of

organic materials at elevated temperature in the absence of
oxygen..It involve some changes in physically and
chemically , the process of pyrolysis is an irreversible one
.Pyrolysis is a process of thrombolysis and is most
commonlyused in organic plastic materials that can be
heated at very hith temperature of 240oc to 360oc.
Pyrolysis of that plastics produces the output of
gas,liquid,and finally as char that contain large amount of
carbon content.
Pyrolysis is the process that can be vary from
hydrolysis and high heat combustion. But in pyrolysis there
is no air is allow in to the reactor , If any some amount of
air is present in to the reactor that is a possible one to
burning of plastics present inside the reactor . So the
reactor is designed without any airgap present in it.In
general it is imposible to achieve a complete air free
system because of some air already present inside in to the
reactor. The output from pyrolysis process includes,

Fig.1 pyrolysis process

V.

CHARACTERISTICS:

The process is pollution free, there is no harmful gases

generated in this process. The pyrolysis process system
consist of,

TABLE 1.PROPERTIES
SL
NO
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

PROPERTIES

FUEL

Density(kg/m2)
Flash point oc
Fire point oc
Cetane number
Pour point oc
Sulphur content %
Carbon residue %
Kinematic viscosity
Calorific value (kj/kg)
Ash content %

790
41
43
50
7
<0.002
0.013
2.2
41700
<0.97

Octane number

83

Hydrocarbon gas
Hydrocarbon liquid
Charcoal

Melter
Extrusion machine
Pyrolysis reactor
Condenser
Distillate storage

VIII.
PRETREATMENT ANDMETHOD:
In pyrolysis process,it is required
that the
impurities shouldnot exceed 5%
Ash content should be no more than 3.7%
Moisture with in 1%

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

It is witnessed that the plastic usage in India can

be increased day by day because if the low cost and
avilablity. Packages are the major plastic consumption
sector with 40% of total consumption. India has recycled
47% of plastics this is much higher than the share of
recycling in most of the other countries.
X DECAY PERIOD:
TABLE 2. DECCAY SPAN
TYPE
Wood
Cotton cloth
Paper
Plastics

Fig.2 temperature variation

In the above graph (fig.2) its mentioned about the
difference in temperature and time for fuel consumption. It
is a high volume manufacturing process in which the raw
plastic material is shredded and formed into a continuous
profile. In the extrusion of plastic raw thermoplastic
compound materials in the form of hurdles, is gravity fed
from a top mounted hopper into the barrel of the extruder.
The material enters through the feed throat and comes in to
contact with the screw. The rotating screw forces the
plastic forwarded into the barrel which is heated to the
desired melt temperature of the molten plastic range from
200 oc 300 oc.

Decay period of plastics can be calculated from

the half-lifemethod, it is the amount of time required to for
a quantity to fall to half its value as measured at the
beginning of the time period.while the term half-lifecan be
used to describe any quantity which follows the
exponential decay. Reference with the table
Ernest Rutherfords of the principle in 1907 was
half-lifeperiod, which was shortenedto half-life in early
1950s .Before recycling most plastics are sorted according
to the plastic resin type. In the past, plastic recliners are
used , a method of categorization of polymer types.

In most process the heating process is set for the

barrel, gradually increasing the temperature of the barrel at
that time the plastics are started to melting slowly ,at that
time there is a risk as overheating if overheating is occur
on the reactor that may cause degradation in the polymer.

Most plastic recliners do not rely on the RIC now;

they use automatic sort system to identify the resin such as
near infrared (NIR) technology. Some plastic products are
also separated by color before they are recycled. The
plastic recyclables are then shredded.These shredded
fragments then undergo processes to eliminate impurities
like paper labels .This material is melted and often
extruded into the form of pellets which are then used to
manufacture other products.

The over heating is occur by the pressure inside the reactor

and also the friction between the plastics and the reactor
surface .Some of the plastic material can be melted at very
low temperature , so the heater must need a adjuster to a
vary the temperature according to the type of plastic can be
used.
IX.

TIME TO DEGRADE
3-7years
8-15 weeks
1 week
A million years

ADVANTAGES:
Fast disposal of plastic waste without
flying ash.
Flexible utilization of products.
Energy self sustain.

PLASTIC WASTE CREATED:

100

TABLE2.FUEL CONSUMPTION:

80
60

REGION

40

Developed countries
Developing countries
High-income countries
Low-income countries

20
0
1980

1990

2000

2010

Fig 3.Waste plastic created in million tons vs. year

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LITTERS
(MILLION)
5,10,231
3,01,235
5,01,352
74,352

International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

All the developed countries make use of large

amount fuel as stated in the (TABLE.2)The fuel
consumption reached in India is estimated 18.87 million
barrel per day and is expected to reach 18.96 million
barrels per day. As fuel efficiency rises, people drive their
car more which can mitigate some of the gains in carbon
dioxide emission from the higher standards. According to
the national academics report a 10% improvement in fuel
efficiency leads to an average increase in travel distance of
1-2%.This phenomenon is referred to as the rebound
effect.The output of 80 to 87% of fuel, 7 to 9% charcoal
and 3 to 5% gas can be created from the pyrolysis process.
The figure shows the relationship between fuel
consumption and year, the fuel consumption level keep on
increasing corresponding to the years in graph.

process. Then the pyrolysis oil from plastics is complex

mixture of hydrocarbons. The liquid fraction can contain a
range of species including acids, alcohols, dehydes, esters,
heterocyclic derivatives, and phenols, along with varying
amounts of water. This can be controlled by the proper
selection
of
waste
plastics
ie)
polyethylene,
polystyrene,polypropylene, which has less amount of acids
and carbon content. The solid residue remaining from
pyrolysis processes is typically an organic ash. The organic
ash is the residue from the 3% to 5% inorganic material in
the plastic that cannot be converted to energy, the ash
contain non-volatile trace metals that are more
concentrated in the ash. This carbon can be used as a
chemical strengthener in rubber industry and coloring
agent in pigment industries. This carbon black price is very
competitive compare to petroleum carbon black, so our
pyrolysis carbon black is good option instead of petroleum
carbon black, it can be used for steel industry for burning
process.

100%
80%

XI.

60%

Durability of the plastics will range higher thats

why it will deccayslowly, the molecular bond that makes
plastics so durable make it equally resistant to natural
process of degradation. One of the biggest problem with
plastic recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting
of plastic waste, and so it is laborintensive. To overcome
this problem pyrolysis is the safe method to disposing
plastic waste and to meet the demand of fuel. Low density
polyethylene (LDPE) can produce small amount of char,
but the fuel output from LPPE is much higher up to 85%
than the other types of plastics. High density polyethylene,
polystyrene, and polypropylene can be also used to
produce fuel by pyrolysis process. Polyvinylchloride
(PVC) cannot be used in this process becauseof its poor
heat transfer characteristics, but PVC can be used by
downstream treatment process. Pyrolysis of plastic waste is
the better method to dispose the waste plastics and it can be
further converted in to beneficial fuel.

40%
20%
0%
2000

2004

2008

2012

Fig 2.Fuel consumption vs. year

PYROLYSIS OUTPUT
fuel
charcoal

XII .ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

gas

The authors are thankful to Mr.Masila John

MEAssistant professor in PONJESLY college of
engineering for his guidance to complete the project .

Fig.4 output ratio

X.

CONCLUSION:

XIII .REFERENCES:

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:

[1]
DrP.V.Thorat- pyrolysis of waste plastic to
produce liquid hydrocarbons, ISSN 2277-7164.

The output of pyrolysis process contain in the three stages

of gas,liquid,solid .The various pollutions that can be
discharged from the reactor in the form of gas that contain
various harmful gases ie) particular mater (PM) ,oxides of
nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (Sox) ,hydrocarbon (HC)
,carbon dioxide(CO2) and carbon monoxide(CO). These
phenomena can be rectified by using proper condensation
system to condense all the gases produced in pyrolysis

[2]
PawarHarshal.R Waste plastic pyrolysis oil
alternative fuel for CI engine , ISSN 2278-9472.
[3]Tiwari D.C Catalytic degradation of waste plastic in
to fuel range hydrocarbons, ISSN 0975-3699.

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[4]Jane pratoomyod Performance and emission

evalution of blends of diesel fuel with waste plastic oil
in a diesel engine, ISSN 2319-5967.
[5]A.Soloiu The investication of new diesel fuel
produced from waste plastics.
[6]V P Mohna Jaya Velli-Alternate fuel from plastic
waste , ISSN 2277-5005
[7] Alternate strategy for conversion of waste plastics
to fuel.

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