2020
6th
International
Conference
on
Advanced
Computing
&
Communication
Systems
(ICACCS)

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Sagariga
M
R∗†,
Sarada
Balaram∗,
Parvathi
Menon∗,
Aiswarya
B∗,
Devika
Pramod∗,
Bharath
K
R∗
∗ Department
of
Electrical
and
Electronics
Engineering
Amrita
Vishwa
Vidyapeetham,
Amritapuri,
India
† sagarigaragunathan1998@gmail.com

Abstract—In the current world, huge amounts of plastic are
generated every year. Improper management of plastics like
burning it in the open air creates hazardous problems in the
environment. Though there has been numerous attempts for
repossession of plastics using the present technological advance-
ment, it predominantly emits greenhouse gases and the usage
of power for the entire recycling process is sky-high. Pyrolysis
technique is another nature friendly attempt to convert plastic
to inflammable gas. But this process is an energy intensive
mechanism which requires anaerobic decomposition of plastic in
presence of catalyst and at very high temperature. To minimise
energy intensive nature of the process, renewable technologies
are taken in to provide the extreme temperature levels to enable
pyrolysis. Fractional Open Circuit Voltage based maximum
power point tracking mechanism is adopted in order to convert
incident solar energy on solar panels to electric power, and
then transforming to heat using appropriate heating element
and power conversion system. Proposed method is simulated
and implemented using 1kW SPV system and results indicate a
considerable reduction in non-renewable energy usage for plastic
to fuel conversion as compared with conventional methods.
Keywords—Green energy, FOCV MPPT, Pyrolysis
I. I NTRODUCTION
In this present era, the dependence on plastic has increased
drastically, hence there has been an exponential increase in its
production. It is commonly used because of its characteristics
like high durability, the faster rate of production, design flexi-
bility, etc [1]. But after the usage of these kinds of materials, it
turns to a non-biodegradable waste in landfills, which cannot
be recycled easily. Most people incinerate plastic waste in the
open air and creates harmful impact to the environment. This
will lead to dreadful health issues and may lead to death.
And one of the other things that have to be noted is that
the rapid increase of industrialization and urbanization has
created a measurable rise in the demand for fossil fuels. So
because of these problems, the conversion of plastics into fuel
projects are gaining attraction in the energy industries due to
the insufficient recycling techniques of waste plastics.
Another major benefit of solid waste to fuel is the reduction
of landfills. The plastic to fuel technologies is very much
scalable and can be used to meet the needs of economies.
Thus such technologies do not require huge machinery and
complexities. Just as using coal or any other fossil fuels,
these dumped plastics can also be used for the generation of
power[2]. Plastic to fuel conversion technology will be very
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much useful as the price of the fuel is soaring day by day and
landfill options are limited. By this method, it is possible to
save money, health, and planet earth.
There are several methods to treat plastic waste that is
disposed of in landfills. By considering the chemical processes,
pyrolysis is one of the commonly used methods for the
treatment of organic materials [3], [4]. They can be differen-
tiated as slow, intermediate and fast pyrolysis. It is classified
under different temperature levels, heating rate, solid residence
time and biomass particle size [5]. Usually, during pyrolysis,
volatile products are obtained and leaves carbon as the residue.
During extreme pyrolysis, a residue part obtained is mostly
carbon and this is called as carbonization. This mechanism
is considered the first step of the combustion process. In
this method, the plastic is treated in the absence of oxygen
(anaerobic process) in the presence of a catalyst, at high
temperatures. The temperature in this process is less than that
of the gasification temperature which plays a great role in
fuel formation. In the course of this process, few gaseous
products are obtained such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide and few hydrocarbon gases having carbon
number less than 5 [6].
Pyrolysis is carried out at a high temperature maintained in-
side a closed chamber which requires higher power. Since this
is an energy strenuous process, to minimize the burden, renew-
able energy resources are taken into account. Depending upon
the ambient temperature of the solar panel the photovoltaic
cells are powered up by utilizing the green energy technology.
It generates electricity when the light falls on the solar panel
so that a voltage or a potential difference is established across
the terminals which depend upon the intensity of the light.
As the environmental parameters changes, the output current
and voltage of the PV panel varies. Recent reports in the US
states that the new methodology of generating electricity using
solar panels has attained maximum publicity and became a
center of attraction [7]. To maximise the energy output and
efficiency of the SPV system, the Maximum Power Point
Tracking (MPPT) method is chosen which helps in tracking
the maximum available power from a solar panel[8] . MPPT
methods can be classified as Perturb and Observe method,
Incremental Conductance, Fractional Short Circuit Current,
Fractional Open Circuit Voltage, Fuzzy Control, Neural net-
work Control etc [9] . By adopting one of these techniques, it is
possible to convert solar energy to electrical energy efficiently
and effectively.
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 2020 6th International Conference on Advanced Computing & Communication Systems (ICACCS)
II. STATE OF THE ART
Disposing plastic cannot be done very efficiently. It always
has side effects. There are some conventional techniques for
the disposal of plastic waste materials such as Landfilling,
Incineration, Recycling, and Biodegradation. By considering
the landfilling process, it is seen that this method is a highly
wasteful process because it requires a vast amount of space
and energy contained in plastic is wasted in this disposal
route. And in the case of biodegradation, the plastics are
decomposed with the help of microorganisms. Even though
they are completely decomposed by the organisms, there are
allegations that Oxo-Biodegradable plastics may release metals
into the environment. In the recycling process, the plastics are
recycled by mechanically transforming into building material
or poor quality resins. They were also converted into pelletized
fuels or boilers. HOJO UNITY, one of the author’s company
has come up with a new innovation in the field of liquifying
plastic waste into fuels[10].
During the incineration process, the plastic trash is burned
in an incinerator to generate electricity. However, due to this
process, the emission of greenhouse gases leads to a negative
environment causing hazardous health issues.” Smart inciner-
ation” of plastic waste is followed in most of the developed
countries that would reduce the emission of toxic gases and
prevents dirty incineration. The existing commercial plastic
pyrolysis technologies are developed and adopted in many
countries around the world. This is an excellent alternative
method for disposal of plastics with the retrieval of valuable
fuels like petroleum, paraffin, and diesel and the remaining
solid part can be used as tarry. In the pyrolysis method, the
separation of waste plastics is not required and by adopting
this method, it is feasible to eliminate the mechanical recycling
methods [11].
Catalytic pyrolysis technology is referred to be an advanced
recycling method carried out at low temperature ranges. In this
process, the plastic bags are transformed into light carbons
inside a pyrolytic reactor that is specifically designed for the
operation and promotes energy conservation to its extreme. The
hydrocarbons having the low molecular weight are obtained
through both catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis using waste
plastics[4]. There are chemical treatments that completely
break down non-biodegradable plastic such as polyethylene by
utilizing the visible light and a catalyst that does not contain
heavy metal. This process transforms the polyethylene into
formic acid, which acts as a preservative and antibacterial
agent, it is used to produce power from the power plants and
in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
III. M ETHODOLOGY
The primary objective of this work is to transform plastics
into fuel by employing green energy. Inorder to maximize the
system efficiency, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
method is adopted which helps in utilising the maximum
available power of the solar panel. The Fractional Open Circuit
Voltage based MPPT technique is one of the simplest, cost-
effective and most commonly used techniques that utilize
open-circuit voltage of the panel to calculate the voltage corre-
sponding to the maximum power that can be obtained from it
[12],[13],[14], [15]. The voltage levels from the photovoltaic
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system is not sufficient for the heating element of the iron
box to work at its rated condition. So the energy is transferred
to a push-pull converter which boosts up the voltage that is
prerequisite for the load. The heating element of the iron box
is placed in the bottom part of the chamber. The temperature
of the system is persistently observed with the help of the
temperature sensor LM35, which could detect a temperature
variation from -55 to 150 . The sensor is placed in such a way
that the heat in the middle portion of the chamber is sensed.
The output from the push-pull converter is utilized by the
heating element for the pyrolysis process to happen. Pyrolysis
can be defined as a chemical process that takes place under
anaerobic conditions in which the plastic is thermally degraded
at high temperatures to produce shorter molecular chains with
low molecular weight[16]. Break down of plastic and polymers
by heating them to higher temperatures is ineffectual, but if
the type of catalyst used is more efficient then it does not emit
any toxic gases and also the amount of carbon can surge in
the final product [4].
Fig. 1. A schematic representation of the proposed working model
The temperature requirement for pyrolysis mainly depends
upon the density of plastic and this will be normally high. The
temperature sensor has only remote access with the heating
element in the chamber due to the inability of the former
to measure higher temperature levels. So, the actual working
temperature is inaccessible to the sensor. For estimating system
temperature and for establishing temperature control to run
within its safe limits, calibration is done between the original
temperature and what is detected by the sensor. The flowchart
representing the temperature control of the system is depicted
in Fig 2.
Collected plastic wastes are initially washed and cleaned
using soapy water and then it is cut down into small pieces in
a few centimeter range inorder to fit in the chamber effectively.
Anaerobic condition for pyrolysis can be achieved using a
vacuum pump which evacuates air inside the chamber. When a
sufficient amount of heat is obtained, plastic turns its form from
solid-state to liquid slurry, which will be collected inside the
chamber and to gaseous vapour, that move on to the condenser
part of the unit. This terminates the process by giving out liquid
fuel as the prevailing product.
A. Mechanical section of the system
In the mechanical aspect, the system takes place under
two sections such as the incineration section and condensation
section. Generally, pressure vessels are designed in order to
hold high-pressure gas and liquids at high-pressure values.
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Fig. 2. Flowchart representing the temperature control of the system
These types of vessels are usually built using stainless steel
material which is also known as inox steel which mainly
consists of a minimum of 11 percent of chromium and the
maximum content of 1.2 percent of carbon by mass is used as
a material in developing a vacuum chamber. The factors that
have made stainless steel possible for vacuum vessels are due
to its high structural integrity, it helps in achieving liquid-tight
welds, has tensile strength and reduces the chemical reactions
while undergoing the process at ambient temperature. Metals
can be joined together in many ways. Here the chamber is
welded by carrying out gas welding which is considered to be
the most simple, cost-effective and does not require any expert
welders. This is done by creating high-temperature flames in
the equipment and it heats the ends of the material to a point
so that they melt and fuse. Here the chamber has a cylindrical
structure with 30 cm as the bottom diameter and 20 cm height
in order to hold approximately 100 grams of plastic wastes.
The conical set up is made at the top so that the produced gas
does not deviate from its path.
Fig. 3. Stainless steel chamber modelled with the help of gas welding
In the condenser section, the cooling coil of the refrigerator
is used for cooling the entire vapour coming out of the reactor.
Due to the high pressure formed inside the chamber, it results
in the flow of vaporized gas from high potential to low
potential. This vaporized gas enters through the condenser coil
which is dipped in the cold water having a low temperature.
As the vapour passes through the coil, the temperature of the
gas decreases slowly and the condensation process takes place.
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Thus the final product is obtained.
IV. E LECTRICAL SECTION OF THE SYSTEM
Pyrolysis requires high temperature range to convert plastic
from its solid state to a gaseous form that could be condensed.
The entire system is powered using a solar panel arrangement
that can deliver up to 1kW during peak sunny hours and this
energy is utilized to provide the heat requirements for the
process of pyrolysis to happen. The output voltage from the
solar photovoltaic system does not satisfy the energy required
for the heating element which has a rating of 230V, 750W.
Therefore the obtained voltage can be converted to the rated
level with the use of an inverter connected to a transformer of
higher wattages. Such an arrangement is known as push-pull
converter and this makes use of a high switching frequency of
50 Hz quasi sine wave technology which is an efficient, cost-
effective and commonly available method. It provides various
advantages such as good regulation, increased efficiency and
reliability [17].
Fig. 4. Push-pull converter for boosting up input voltage to higher levels
A. Fractional Open Circuit Voltage algorithm
Conventional Fractional Open Circuit method of MPPT
uses the technique of maintaining the terminal voltage of
the panel as 0.75 times the open-circuit voltage. Different
environmental parameters such as temperature, sunlight and
even shadows affect the solar panel by instigating variations
in the open-circuit voltage. If the mentioned parameters remain
constant, then fractional open circuit voltage is the best adop-
tive method for maintaining constant power delivery. Open
circuit voltage is sampled periodically by temporarily halting
the energy consumption from the panel so that the variations
can be easily tracked and utilized for the conventional FOCV
mechanism to function with maximum efficiency. The dom-
inating aspect of this method is that only a single sensor is
essential to examine the voltage in place of at least two sensing
units in other MPPT algorithms[18].
From different experiments, it is inferred that the value of k
can be fixed as 0.75. Fig 5 shows the flowchart for performing
the enhanced fractional open circuit voltage technique. The
value of Voc is determined as the timer interrupt overflows
and this process continues in a long run so that the variations
in Voc can be easily tracked and make changes in Vmpp. The
input to the push-pull converter, Vin is maintained as Vmpp by
either increasing or decreasing duty ratio of the signal given
to the control part of the circuit.
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 2020 6th International Conference on Advanced Computing & Communication Systems (ICACCS)
Fig. 5. Flowchart representing FOCV based MPPT technique[19]
V. R ESULT
The primary objective of this work is to convert plastic
to fuel using the solar photovoltaic arrangement that would
deliver a maximum power of 1kW under suitable conditions.
The FOCV method of MPPT technique is much efficient,
coherent and computationally less comprehensive when com-
pared with other algorithms. The available maximum power is
transferred from the panel by adjusting the switching sequence
to power converter modules. The push-pull converter helped
the system to boost up the terminal voltage of the panel for
the load requirement so that the pyrolysis process takes place
systematically and effectively.
Initially, about 50gm of plastics is collected and deposited
in the heating chamber after processing it properly. The heat
produced by the nichrome element melts the plastic and a part
of the plastic is sublimated into the gaseous state. Calcium
bentonite catalyst is used to gain the maximum amount of fuel
under renewable assisted pyrolysis mechanism. Similar to the
works carried out in the domain [10], reaction was carried out
under different temperature levels at definite predefined time
intervals in the presence of the catalyst and it is observed that
deviation in the temperature levels at which the reaction is
carried out varies the amount of fuel product obtained after
pyrolysis. It can be inferred from the analysis that, as the
temperature level increases, the speed of pyrolysis reaction also
increases and the efficiency traces to its peak level.
VI. C ONCLUSION
Plastic is one of the grave threat to the developing world,
dependence on plastic has increased drastically, hence there
has been an exponential increase in the production of plastic as
well which intern create an adverse impact to the environment.
The absence of proper methods for the recycling of plastic
is a brooding issue which is being faced by the developing
world. Even though there has been umpteen attempts and
improvements in the production of biodegradable plastic but
the efforts put into overhauling the damage has been minimal.
By considering this, the pyrolysis studied here is an simple and
an inexpensive technology to overcome the difficulties that has
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been lingering on for several decades. The present conventional
methods are energy consuming and financial support required
in order to get it done is sky rocketing. The project proposed
here has a very high probability of success in reducing the
amount of plastics and in turn industrially useful hydrocarbon
liquid products are obtained there by eliminating our concerns
to an extent and making best out of waste.
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