CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

For more than a century, external combustion engines have traditionally used
fossil diesel fuel as their major source of fuel for their diesel engines and other
burners. Sectors that use this form of fossil fuel include transportation,
agriculture, and industry. Due to the finite supply of natural fossil fuel supplies,
scientists and engineers have focused more on looking for alternative fuels
that are accessible and practical to utilize. They can be converted quickly into
different organic compounds and are ready for use as industrial or automotive
fuels (Arjharn et al., 2022).

A potentially useful alternative fuel is Waste Plastic Oil (WPO), which is

produced from municipal solid waste (MSW), any type of plastics and medical
waste. Any type of plastics usually includes High Density Polyethylene
(HDPE), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), and Polystyrene (PS). Recently,
Clariant Catalysts collaborated with the Slovakian chemical company Duslo's
VUCHT Research Institute of Chemical Technology, which used the pyrolysis
process to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel as shown in the Figure 1.1 (Lavina,
2020).
These days in Malaysia, many people use diesel trucks for transportation by
road, and rail as well as for industry. They prefer to use diesel trucks as
compared to gas engines because diesel trucks are more effective on roads.
In general, diesel fuel is more efficient because it has more energy per gallon
than gasoline does (Research, 2020). Moreover, previous research states that
an engine was used to analyze the characteristics of oil made from plastic
trash. It was discovered that the waste plastic oil had somewhat better heating
value, cetane number, specific gravity, viscosity, and flash point than diesel
fuel. By testing the oil with the engine, it was discovered that the fuel
consumption and power under the greatest loads were both higher than 5 to
8%. Both carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide were released in identical
amounts. Therefore, the characteristics of the used plastic oil resembled those
of diesel fuel (Gopidesi et al., 2019).

Besides that, diesel trucks are preferable because they produce fewer
greenhouse gases than gasoline engines. However, commercial diesel emits
carbon dioxide higher than the waste plastic oil (WPO) based on a research
that using 100% waste plastic oil (WPO) which reveals an increase in brake
thermal efficiency when compared to diesel, a 25% rise in nitrogen dioxide
(NOx), and a 5% decrease in carbon monoxide (CO) (Sharma et al., 2016).

Furthermore, the diesel used in this research produced from plastic waste with
a 50% fuel percentage and a 50% water content. The three types of water that
are present in fuels are free water, emulsionated water, and soluble water
(Fregolente et al., 2012). Higher water content in the fuel can bring damage to
the fuel tanks and engine parts. Then, rust and corrosion in the tank will
produce hard particulate that is transferred to the fuel and contributes to engine
wear. The onset of serious issues occurs when water separates from fuel and
becomes free or emulsified water. Emulsified water is a different type of free
water; the droplets are just so small and well mixed into the fuel that they are
floating rather than dropping to the bottom. When water has fully dissolved in
fuel, there are no longer any "droplets" (Donaldson, 2022). Percentage of
water content in the fuel need to be reduced in order to get the high quality of
plastic oil.
Besides that, in order to emulsify the fuel with different percentage of water,
ultrasonication technology is used in this research. Ultrasound is distinctive
homogenization method used in a wide range of applications. It is a process
that breaks down large particles into smaller fragments or more uniformly sized
particles in the base fluid (Karami et al., 2019). Also, ultrasonication is a
homogenization procedure that uses ultrasonic rates/frequencies above 20
kHz. Both probe-type and Bath type sonicators are or frequently used. High
intensity probe type sonicators have been found to be more effective than bath
type (Sandhya et al., 2021). The advantages of using ultrasonic techniques
included its low power requirements, in-line measurement, long-term stability,
non-invasiveness, high resolution and accuracy, and high sensitivity. The
method delivered useful data on emulsion stability, variations in droplet size
distribution, and concentration (Raigan, 2020).

1.2 Problem of Statement

These days, enormous expansion in the production of plastic is produced due

to the significant amount of this type of waste. Plastic waste has cumulative
and long-term environmental effects due to its long lifespan, even though it is
not considered hazardous waste (Fulgencio-medrano et al., 2022). Thus,
making diesel from plastic waste is one technique to lessen the massive
amount of plastic waste that exists. Thus, depolymerization is the procedure
used to create waste plastic oil. This method, meanwhile, is poorly effective
since diesel produced from plastic waste contains more water than fuel. As a
result of its low fuel content, diesel cannot be used by diesel trucks.

Ultrasonication technology is used in this research to determine the suitable

amount of water content needed in the fuel for the fuel to be fully efficient and
does not bring any damage to the diesel engine. Then, by obtaining information
on the fuel's emissions from diesel trucks, it is vital to evaluate the fuel's
performance since it is believed that the emission from the waste plastic oil
(WPO) contains less carbon dioxide compared to the emission from the
commercial diesel.
1.3 Objectives

• To identify the suitable amount of water content needed for the fuel to be
fully efficient.
• To test the performance by evaluating its emission.
• To study the effect of emulsify fuel at different temperature and pressure.

1.4 Research Scope

In this study, raw material will be given by Syngas Sdn. Bhd. which is waste
plastic oil (WPO) that produced from medical waste which contains 50% of
water and 50% of fuel. However, the company produced WPO using
depolymerization process while other company used pyrolysis as their main
process producing WPO. Then, the fuel will be emulsified with different
percentage of water content by using ultrasonication. Next, the emission of
emulsified fuel will be evaluated at the different temperature and pressure.
Therefore, the fuel will be used in diesel trucks and assessment of the effects
of emulsified fuel on the performance and the carbon dioxide emission of the
diesel truck engine will be recorded.

1.5 Significance of Study

This study’s finding will redound to society’s benefit, considering WPO emits
lower carbon dioxide compared to commercial diesel. Thus, WPO can reduced
the enormous amount of plastic waste in the landfill since mostly people in
Malaysia use non-degradable plastic bag. Moreover, WPO can be alternative
source of energy. The technology can lessen the demand for extracting,
transporting, and burning fossil fuels while enhancing the energy security of a
community. Keep in mind that the upstream, middle, and downstream activities
of the petroleum business are energy intensive. Furthermore, the study will
reveal crucial aspects of the depolymerization process for the researcher that
many other researchers were unable to investigate.