EXTRACTION OF HYDROCARBONS USING PLASTIC WASTE

Abstract
Economic growth and changing consumption and production patterns are resulting into
rapid increase in generation of waste plastic in the world. In Asia and the pacific, as well as
many other developing regions, plastic consumption has increased much than the world
average due to rapid urbanization and economic development. This Paper deals with the
conversion of Plastic Wastes into alternative fuels. Waste Plastic from municipal solid waste
were collected and were sorted based on their types like PET bottles, Polypropylene,
Polystyrene, HDPE and LDPE. These Plastic wastes are graded and shredded and then heated
in a closed chamber (Similar to a process called Pyrolysis) to attain temperatures up to 150-
1000℃. The Plastic waste is melted and gases produced at this temperature are condensed to
liquid state. Both, Condensed and Uncondensed liquid & gases can be used as fuel to engines.
The Fuel produced is tested for Viscosity and Calorific Value, and is compared with Gasoline
and Diesel Fuel and the results Obtained are tabulated.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Fig 1. Plastic using India

Introduction to plastic, it can be side that plastics are synthetic organic materials
produced by polymerization. They are typically of high molecular mass, and may contain other
substances besides polymers to improve performance and reduce cost. These polymers can be
molded or extruded into desired shapes.

There are two main types of plastics

• Thermoplastics can repeatedly soften and melt if enough heat is applied and
hardened on cooling. So that can be made into new plastics products.
Examples are polyethylene, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, among others.
• Thermosets or thermosetting can melt and take shape only once. They are not
suitable for repeated heat treatments; therefore, after they have solidified, they
stay solid
Examples are phenol formaldehyde and urea formaldehyde

Use of Plastics is increasing Day by Day and the disposal of waste generated from
plastics has been a major concern. Plastics are processed from Crude Oil. The objective is to
reverse the process and from flammable fuel from Plastic waste. Besides helping in removal of
Tons of waste plastic, which makes a tidy environment, the Pyrolysis of waste plastics also
helps in generating an alternate fuel, a convenient from of fuel to replace Diesel or Gasoline.
With the alarming levels of increase in consumption of Petrol, Diesel which are not only non-
replenishable but also are the source for major hazardous pollutants that damage the
environment, Innovation and search for Alternative fuels falls in its natural order and this
Liquid Hydrocarbon obtained from waste plastics might as well save the day and meets the

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growing demand for Alternative fuels. This however requires a separate and well-planned set
of Equipment that can serve the purpose and simultaneously present itself to be pocket-friendly.

The entire world is now facing tremendous environmental problem due to the increased
use of polyethylene in daily lifestyle. Polyethylene is the easily available Plastic material which
is used primarily in packaging e.g., plastic bag, plastic films, geomembranes, containers
including bottles, etc. The increasing polyethylene load on the earth has led to a number of
governments introducing new legislation for its recovery as a resource. Accumulation of
enormous amounts of plastic waste produced all over the world has negative impacts on the
environment. Pyrolysis of polyethylene waste is a suitable option in converting this waste into
economically valuable hydrocarbons, which can be used either as fuels or as feed stock in the
petrochemical industry. In this perspective polyethylene waste was collected from city
municipality dumping zone and converted to valuable hydrocarbons via pyrolysis. The both
the catalytic and thermal pyrolysis were performed. The temperature range of study for both
the processes were 400-600C.

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2. PYROLYSIS

Fig 2. Pyrolysis cycle

The pyrolysis process is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated

temperatures in an inert atmosphere. It involves a change of chemical composition.

pyrolysis, involves the degradation of the polymeric materials by heating in the absence
of oxygen. The process is usually conducted at temperatures between 500- 800ºC and results
in the formation of a carbonized char and a volatile fraction that may be separated into
condensable hydrocarbon oil and a non-condensable high calorific value gas. The proportion
of each fraction and their precise composition depends primarily on the nature of the plastic
waste but also on process condition. In the case of polyolefins like polyethylene or
polypropylene, thermal cracking has been reported to proceed through a random scission
mechanism that generates a mixture of linear olefins and paraffins over a wide range of
molecular weights. In other cases, like polystyrene and polymethylmethacrylate, thermal
degradation occurs by a so-called unzipping mechanism that yields a high proportion of their
constituent monomers

Pyrolysis is most commonly used in the treatment of organic materials. It is one of the
processes involved in charring wood. In general, pyrolysis of organic substances produces
volatile products and leaves char, a carbon-rich solid residue. Extreme pyrolysis, which leaves
mostly carbon as the residue, is called carbonization. Pyrolysis is considered the first step in
the processes of gasification or combustion. The process is used heavily in the chemical
industry, for example, to produce ethylene, many forms of carbon, and other chemicals from
petroleum, coal, and even wood, to produce coke from coal. It is used also in the conversion of
natural gas (primarily methane) into non-polluting hydrogen gas and non-polluting solid
carbon char, recently on an industrial scale. Aspirational applications of pyrolysis would

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convert biomass into syngas and biochar, waste plastics back into usable oil, or waste into
safely disposable substances. In pyrolytic processes, a proportion of the species generated
directly from the initial degradation reaction are transformed into secondary products due to
the occurrence of inter and intramolecular reactions. The extent and the nature of these
reactions depend both on the reaction temperature and also on the residence of the products in
the reaction zone, an aspect that is primarily affected by the reactor design.

Pyrolysis generally consists in heating the material above its decomposition

temperature, breaking chemical bonds in its molecules. The fragments usually become smaller
molecules, but may combine to produce residues with larger molecular mass, even amorphous
covalent solids. In many settings, some amounts of oxygen, water, or other substances may be
present, so that combustion, hydrolysis, or other chemical processes may occur besides
pyrolysis proper. Sometimes those chemicals are added intentionally, as in the burning of
firewood, in the traditional manufacture of charcoal, and in the steam cracking of crude oil.
Conversely, the starting material may be heated in a vacuum or in an inert atmosphere to avoid
chemical side reactions (such as combustion or hydrolysis). Pyrolysis in a vacuum also lowers
the boiling point of the by-products, improving their recovery.

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3. EXTRACTING PROCESS

Recycling of plastic is difficult and costly because of the restrictions on contamination

of water and labour-intensive segregation of different plastics before recycle which is labour
intensive. Segregation of different plastic materials are essential since they are made of
different resin compound for difference in transparency and colour. Dyed or pigmented plastics
have a lower market value too. Clearly transparent plastics can be easily dyed to transform into
new products, have greater flexibility and are mostly desirable by the manufacture. 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. Figure represents the
processes involved in the pyrolysis of plastic.

Table 1. 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. The process parameters can be altered to generate
products based on personal preferences. Hence pyrolysis is often referred as a flexible process.

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The liquid oil produced is of high quality as it can be used in multiple applications
without any upgradation or treatment. The gaseous fuel produced as the by-product of
pyrolysis, can be reused to compensate the energy requirement of the pyrolysis plant. As the
gaseous fuel produced is of high calorific value Pyrolysis is mostly employed over common
recycling processes since handling is much easier and flexible.

The process is an advanced conversion that has the ability to produce a clean, high-
calorific value fuel from a wide variety of biomass and waste streams. It is the thermo-chemical
decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The
pyrolysis provides various operational, environmental and economic advantages. Under
pressure and heat, the long chain polymers of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon decompose into
short-chain petroleum hydrocarbons with a ceiling length of around 18 carbons. Hydrocarbon
molecules from the basic materials are split under the impact of the catalytic (carbon material)
convertor inside the reactor at 70–240 C. The reduction of process temperature takes place
from 500–600 C to 240 C. The higher yield of liquid fuel of about 98 % was achieved

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