Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Analysis and simulation of mini pyrolysis reactor for conversion of

plastic waste into fuel
Kundan Kumar Jha a, T.T.M. Kannan a,⇑, J. Chandradass b, D. Vincent Herald Wilson c, Ashutosh Das d
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, PRIST Deemed to be University, Thanjavur 613403, India
b
Centre for Automotive Materials, Department of Automobile Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai 603203, Tamilnadu, India
c
Technology Management, School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014 India
d
Centre for Environmental Engineering, PRIST Deemed to be University, Thanjavur 613403, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Plastic is one of the widely used materials in day to day activity in our life and involves a contribution to
Received 17 January 2021 society. Plastic is a non-gradable material, remains in the soil and polluting the environment. Plastic
Received in revised form 6 February 2021 pyrolysis is a novel technique to convert waste plastic into fuel. This work aims to analyze and simulate
Accepted 12 February 2021
a mini reactor for the plastic pyrolysis process. The mini reactor is designed by 3D CAD and analyzed by
Available online xxxx
ANSYS software. This mini reactor is designed to pyrolyze low-Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE) to withstand
650 °C. This work demonstrated the potential of finite element analysis of pyrolysis setup to determine
Keywords:
thermal stress and strains. Maximum and minimum thermal stress and strain values developed inside
Plastic waste
Pyrolysis
the mini reactor for converting plastic waste into fuel were 127 MPa, 158 MPa, 0.001329, and
Mini reactor 0.001649, respectively.
Analysis Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Simulation Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Mechanical, Electronics and Computer Engineering 2020: Materials Science.

1. Introduction modelling of a generation of cracks during pyrolysis reactors,

Production of plastics around the world reached 648 million
tonnes in 2020. Due to their versatility, plastics have become an
essential material in various sectors such as engineering, medical,
packaging, building, construction, transportation, agriculture, and
sports. Plastic pyrolysis is a new innovative technique to convert
plastic waste into fuel. Pyrolysis involves the heating and degrada-
tion of polymeric material between 3500 °C and 4500 °C in the
absence of oxygen. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical conversion pro-
cess, an intensively developed method to recycle plastic waste.
The mini pyrolysis setup can be installed in a small space for con-
verting plastic wastes (LDPE & HDPE) into usable fuel by thermal
pyrolysis based on the zero waste principle. Kehinde et al. [1] ana-
lyzed the electrical operated pyrolysis reactor design and verified it
by simulation using the finite element method. Tatenda et al. [2]
reviewed that pyrolysis modelling, sensitivity analysis, and opti-
mization techniques to determine the fire behaviour of com-
bustible solids. Neraj et al. [3] present characterization and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ttmkresearch@gmail.com (T.T.M. Kannan).
which presented pyrolysis reactor may fail are due to crack based
on interface strength and temperature. The microstructure also
helped to analyze the image segmentation technique using python.
Ricardo et al. [4] conducted modelling, analysis of the reactor and
found water loss due to slaking reaction and evaporation occurs
inside the chamber. Khalid et al. [5] studied numerical simulations
of coupled solid-phase reactions in pyrolysis, and the gas-phase
reaction was conducted using a 3directional fluid dynamics-
based fire model. Niranjan et al. [6] developed a pyrolysis model
using computational fluid dynamics simulation and calculated
the reactor’s stoichiometric coefficient. Zhihai et al. [7] validated
using experimental data of pyrolysis reactor and evaluate the
impact of gasifying agent temperature, oil moisture content, and
heating value of fuel using simulation technique. It also developed
a model to simulate and predict the steady-state performance of
the pyrolysis gasification process. Jens et al. [8] developed a novel
simulation model for pyrolysis based on kinetics reaction mecha-
nisms. The simulation also shows good coincidence with the
experimental result regarding the atomic composition products.
Mohammed et al. [9] developed a four-stage steady-state simula-
tion model in pyrolysis determined by the ASPEN PLUS simulation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.02.408
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Mechanical, Electronics and Computer Engineering 2020:
Materials Science.

Please cite this article as: K. Kumar Jha, T.T.M. Kannan, J. Chandradass et al., Analysis and simulation of mini pyrolysis reactor for conversion of plastic
waste into fuel, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.02.408
K. Kumar Jha, T.T.M. Kannan, J. Chandradass et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

model, predicting optimum reactor temperature based on airflow

rate. Zdenta et al. [10] focused on analysis, modelling, and simula-
tion of reactors used chemical process. The dynamic mathematical
model is described, and the optimal parameter was computed by
using mathematical equations. Marius et al. [11] presented a math-
ematical model used together with energy balance, operating cost,
and product values to find the optimal residence time that maxi-
mizes the profit for the pyrolysis process. Roman et al. [12] ana-
lyzed various concepts of the condensation and fractionation unit
of the waste plastic pyrolysis plant was carried using chemical
software. It predicts the use of a high-efficiency column with many
stages to achieve satisfactory pyrolysis reactor results. Akpa et al.
[13] developed a simulation and analysis tool for the chemical
reactor. A new tool (A scheme) is used to design the pyrolysis reac-
tor and simulate the kinetics in the liquid phase using a graphical
user interface using the JAVA program. Muktar et al. [14] analyzed
biomass pyrolysis in a solar thermal reactor using A Eulerian –
Eulerian modal with a consecutive closure equation derived from
the kinetic theory granular flow. They incorporated heat transfer
drying and pyrolysis reaction and solved using ANSYS fluent CFD
software. Panner Selvam et al. [15] conducted CFD analysis of bio-
mass fast pyrolysis modeling in a fluidized bed reactor and com-
pared it with experimental data to yield the product. Hari et al. Fig. 1. Modeling Mini reactor.
[16] develop a plastic pyrolysis plant design using 3D CAD software
and Solid works. All the above research focuses on analyzing the
reactor and large size pyrolysis setup. In the present work, the Mini
pyrolysis reactor has been designed to accommodate 5 Kg of plastic
waste, crack-resistant, and have the best proof failure properties,
which comply with industry need. Additionally, we have con-
ducted analysis and simulation using ANSYS software. Also, we
have performed analysis and simulation using ANSYS software.

2. Material and methods

The experiment is initially aimed at performing pyrolysis on a

small scale, and the volume of the reactor is designed to accommo-
date 5 kg of waste plastic. The mini reactor is made of stainless
steel. The mini reactor is proposed to work at normal atmospheric
pressure. The developed mini reactor for pyrolysis setup is shown
in Fig. 2.Various specifications of pyrolysis reactor were listed in
Table 1.

2.1. Low density polyethylene (LDPE)

In this experiment, low-density polyethylene products of waste

plastic bags, water bottles, containers, and tubing. LDPE specific
properties are melting point (105 °C), low density (0.90 g/cm3),
and good processibility. LDPE waste plastic is used as a raw mate-
rial in the Pyrolysis process for converting useful fuel.

2.2. Finite element analysis of pyrolysis setup

The mini reactor is designed by 3D CAD using Autocad (Fig. 1)

and analyzed by the Finite element Method. Finite element analy-

Table 1
Specification of mini reactor.

Part name Size

Shell diameter 3500 mm
Drum Height 5000 mm
Funnel diameter 185 mm
Funnel height 10 mm
Exhaust pipe diameter 10 mm
Pressure developed 3 bar
Drain pipe diameter 100 mm
Temperature required for pyrolysis 450 0C
Fig. 2. Mini reactor.

2
K. Kumar Jha, T.T.M. Kannan, J. Chandradass et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 2 thermal strains are 0.001329 and 0.001649, are also predicted by
Thermal stress and strain values of Mini reactor. Thermal analysis through ANSYS software. The extreme thermal
Temperature in 0C Thermal stress (MPa) Thermal Strain stresses and strains are developed inside the reactor shell within
410 127 0.001329 permissible limits and are feasible to work efficiently to convert
415 133 0.001391 plastic waste to fuel production.
422 139 0.001452 Fig. 3 shows thermal stresses developed by various operating
431 145 0.001514 temperatures in mini reactors on conversion plastic into fuel by
445 149 0.001600
452 154 0.001612
pyrolysis. Thermal stress is highly dependent on thermal expan-
458 156 0.001630 sion co-efficient in thermal cracking. Thermal stress is directly pro-
462 157 0.001643 portional to thermal strain. During the fuel production process,
465 158 0.001649 comparatively lower thermal stresses have been developed inside
the reactor shell. Thermal stress can have a significant effect on
the reactor cylinder strength and stability. It is found that thermal
sis is the process of simulating the behavior of a pyrolysis setup stresses increase by increasing temperature in the mini reactor
under request conditions and accessed using the finite element pyrolysis process, and there is no thermal expansion for the explo-
method (FEM). It is used to predict thermal stress and thermal sion. Results indicated mini reactor is safe and reliable for the pro-
strain under various temperatures developed in the mini reactor duction of fuel from plastic waste.
under different process parameters. Fig. 4 shows the thermal stress and strain analysis of mini reac-
tor using ANSYS software. The transverse residual stress in the
3. Result and discussions pyrolysis reactor shell is within the base material yield strength
limit. This analysis is used to predict the mini reactor, which is
The production method for converting plastic to liquid fuel is suitable for converting plastic waste to fuel. It found that there is
based on pyrolysis of the plastics and the condensation of the no thermal expansion and deformation occurs in the mini reactor.
resulting hydrocarbons. The waste plastic inside the reactor deteri- It may be implemented small-scale industry for plastic to fuel con-
orates enough to vanish after arriving at the response temperature. version process.
In this work, Finite element modeling was employed to model the
behavior of pyrolysis setup. The mini reactor setup is stimulated 4. Conclusion
with the help of a 2D model. The mini pyrolysis reactor is subjected
to various operating temperatures and applied using ANSYS simu- The mini reactor is suitable for the production of fuel from plas-
lation software and calculated the corresponding thermal stresses tic waste. In this work, the mini reactor was designed by 3D CAD
and thermal strains. Software and analyzed by ANSYS software. It concludes the
Table 2 represents thermal stresses and thermal strains of a following
mini reactor for converting plastic waste into fuel production pro-
cess. Mini reactor design phases include thermal stress, thermal  The mini reactor starts the pyrolysis process for converting
strain, and young modulus values of reactor shell. There is a possi- plastic into fuel from 410 °C into 465 °C.
bility to expand or contract the reactor shell by the influence of  Maximum and minimum values of thermal stresses developed
thermal stress. The distribution of thermal stresses across the layer inside the mini reactor for converting plastic waste into fuel
of the reactor shell has been dealt with thermal analysis. Based on were 127 MPa and 158 MPa.
assumptions that temperature variation of reactor shell in a radial  Maximum and minimum values of thermal strain developed
direction and axis-symmetric affected by shear stress effect. The inside the mini reactor for conversion of plastic waste into fuel
minimum and maximum thermal stress values are 127 MPa, and were 0.001329 and 0.001649
158 MPa are developed in the radial direction of the reactor shell  There is no thermal expansion and deformation of the mini
during pyrolysis. The corresponding minimum and maximum reactor during the pyrolysis process.

Fig. 3. Relation between Temperatures versus Thermal stress of mini reactor.

3
K. Kumar Jha, T.T.M. Kannan, J. Chandradass et al.
Fig. 4. Finite element analysis of Mini reactor with various temperatures.
 This Mini reactor was specially designed for converting 5 Kg of
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) waste into fuel without envi-
ronmental impact.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Kundan Kumar Jha: Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodol-
ogy. T.T.M. Kannan: Writing - original draft, Validation, Investiga-
tion. J. Chandradass: Conceptualization, Writing - review &
editing. D. Vincent Herald Wilson: Visualization. Ashutosh Das:
Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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