NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

P. O. BOX AC 939 ASCOT, BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Tel: +263-(0)9-282078/282007/288413 Fax: +263-(0)9-286803

PART III and IV PROPOSAL STRUCUTRE AND FINAL REPORT

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of chemical

engineering

Department industrial technology

Proposed Title/ Research Title-

PRODUCTION OF LIQUID FUEL FROM WASTE PLASTIC.

Name of Candidate:Charles Ncengani

Number:N0187671X

Supervisor:OLGA KUIPA

Field of Study:chemical engineering

YEAR ;2020

 Project Title- PRODUCTION OF LIQUID FUEL FROM WASTE PLASTIC.

 Topic-THERMAL DEGRADATION/DECOMPOSITION
Statement of the problem

Waste plastics is abundant and its disposal creates large problems for the
environment.Plastics does not waste in landfills ,it is not easily recycled and it can
produce waste ash,heavy metals and The use of incinerator generates some pollutants
to the air, which also cause environmental issues. .However thermal processes can be
used to convert plastics into hydrocarbon fuels such ethanol,gasoline etc

Aim

The main aim is to use waste plastic material as a source of liquid fuel.
Thermodecomposition of waste plastics at elevated temperatures in the absence of
oxygen to produce fuels also refered to as pyrolysis is employed process. The process is
usually conducted at temperatures between 500-800degrees.An alternative method is
Catalytic degradation which is a more efficient method.

Objectives
In order to obtain our liquid fuel from waste plastics two methods are going to be used
1.Thermal decomposition-which envolves decomposing materials using extreme
temperatures between 500-800 degrees celcius. This can give resultant products which
can be divided into liquid fraction, gaseous fraction and solid residues. However, the
thermal degradation of plastics has a major drawback such as very broad product range
and requirement of high temperature.2.Catalytic degradation therefore provides a
means to address these problems. The use of catalyst is expected to reduce the reaction
temperature, to promote decomposition reaction, and to improve the quality of the
products. The direct catalytic cracking has been used widely due to several advantages,
mostly in terms of the energy efficiency, with regards to the use of the reactor, the
reaction temperature and the residence time
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