A final year Project report

On

RECYCLING OF WASTE PLASTIC&PRODUCTION

OF FUEL OIL FROM WASTE PLASTIC

Submitted by

N. Naga Durga (N091052)

P. Mounika (N091725)

Under the guidance of

Mr. M.MADHUSUDHAN REDDY

In partial fulfilment of Project work for the award of the degree

Of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN

CHEMICALENGINEERING

RGUKT NUZVID CAMPUS

Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies

Nuzvid, Krishna Dist., Andhra Pradesh

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the report entitled as “RECYCLING OF WASTE

PLASTIC&PRODUCTION OF FUEL OIL FROM WASTE PLASTIC” submitted by N.

Naga Durga (N091052), P. Mounika (N091725), to the department of Chemical Engineering,
RGUKT, Nuzvid, for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Chemical
Engineering is a bonafide work carried out by them under our personal supervision and
guidance during the academic year 2014-2015. This report is, in our opinion, is worthy of
consideration for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering in
accordance with the regulations of the University.

Mr. M. Madhusudhan Reddy, Supervisor,

Head of the Department, Mr. M. Madhusudhan Reddy,
Department of Chemical, Lecturer,
RGUKT Nuzvid, Department of Chemical,
Nuzvid – 521202 RGUKT Nuzvid,
Nuzvid – 521202

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our sincere gratitude toward our guide, Mr. Madhusudhan
Reddy, Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, and for their invaluable guidance and
constant encouragement throughout the course of this project. His unconditional support and
suggestions have proved to be indispensible.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Mr. M. Madhusudhan Reddy, head of
the department, Department of Chemical Engineering, for giving his support to improve our
knowledge by doing this project using departmental facilities.

Nukella Naga Durga N091052

Palli Mounika N091725

Department of Chemical Engineering

Place: RGUKT Nuzvid

Date: 18/04/2015

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 ABSTRACT

Plastics are user friendly but not eco-friendly as they are non-biodegradable. A plastic waste
is a municipal solid waste that increases with increasing population. Now a days we are using
plastics in our daily life and it becomes part of our life. We are using plastic as carry bags,
cups and for packaging, and all household items are made up of plastic at present. Disposal of
plastic waste is a menace and become a major problem due to their non-biodegradability and
unaesthetic view. So the best alternative of disposal is to recycle the waste plastic, which will
reduce the effects of plastic pollution thereby protecting our environment.

We have taken the journal “Fuel Oil Production from Municipal Plastic Wastes in
Sequential Pyrolysis and Catalytic Reforming Reactors” - by Mochamad Syamsiro,harwin
Saptoadi,Tinton Norsujianto, Putri Noviasri, Shuo cheng, Zainal Alimuddin,Kunio
Yoshikawa, as a reference. The aim of this research was to study fuel oil production from
municipal plastic wastes by sequential pyrolysis and catalytic reforming processes. Three
kinds of municipal plastic wastes were collected from the final disposal site. Commercial Y-
zeolite and natural zeolite catalysts were used in this study. The results show that the
feedstock types strongly affect the product yields and the quality of liquid and solid products.
HDPE waste produced the highest liquid fraction. The catalyst presences reduced the liquid
fraction and increased the gaseous fraction. Furthermore, municipal plastic wastes pyrolysis
produced higher heating value solid products than those of biomass and low rank coal.

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List of figures:
1.1 pie – diagram showing different types of MSW materials
1.2 pie – chart showing different types of PSW
2.1 Incineration
2.2 Land filling
4.1 Stages of plastic recycling
4.2 process flow sheet of Mechanical recycling
5.1 The feed stock used in the experiments
5.2 X - ray powder diffraction pattern of natural zeolite samples
5.3 Experimental apparatus of liquid fuel production
5.4 Effect of different types of feed stocks
5.5 Effect of catalysts on (a) product yield and (b) liquid fraction composition

List of tables:
4.1 List of different types of plastics and their identification codes
4.2 Calorific values of different types of plastics
5.1 Chemical composition and BET surface area of natural zeolite
5.2 Properties of liquid products for various feed stocks
5.3 Properties of commercial diesel fuels according to Indonesian Government
5.4 Properties of liquid products for different catalysts
5.5 Proximate analysis of solid residues

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………………..........i

CERTIFICATE………………………………………………………………………....... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………...........iii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………….......iv
LIST OF FIGURES&TABLES……………………………………………………………v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Types of plastics
1.2 Advantages of plastic
1.3 Disadvantages of plastic
CHAPTER 2: METHODS INVOLVED IN DEGRADATION OF PLASTICS 11
2.1 Incineration
2.2 Land filling
2.3 Need for safe disposal of waste plastic

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

CHAPTER 4: RECYCLING OF WASTE PLASTIC 9

4.1 Need to recycle the plastics

4.2 Stages of plastic recycling process
4.2.1 Plastic identification
4.2.2 Washing the impurities
4.2.3 Tearing of the plastic
4.2.4 Re – identification of plastic grades
4.3 Methods of recycling
4.3.1 Re-extrusion (Primary recycling)
4.3.2 Mechanical recycling (secondary recycling)
4.3.3 Chemical recycling (ternary recycling)
4.3.4 Energy recovery (Quaternary recycling)
CHAPTER 5: FUEL OIL PRODUCTION FROM MUNICIPAL PLASTIC WASTE IN
SEQUENTIAL PYROLYSIS AND CATALYTIC REFORMING REACTORS 19
5.1 Introduction

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 5.2 Materials and methods
5.3 Results and discussions
5.3.1 Effect of different types of feed stocks
5.3.2 General tests recommended for diesel fuels
5.3.3 Effect of catalysts
5.3.4 Solid residues
CONCLUSION 32
REFERENCES 33

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Plastics have become an indispensable part in today’s world. Due to their lightweight,
durability, energy efficiency, coupled with a faster rate of production and design flexibility,
these plastics are employed in entire gamut of industrial and domestic areas. Plastics are
produced from petroleum derivatives and are composed primarily of hydrocarbons but also
contains additives such as antioxidants, colorants and other stabilizers. Disposal of the waste
plastics poses a great hazard to the environment and the effective method has not yet been
implemented. Plastics are slowly biodegradable polymers mostly containing carbon-
hydrogen, and few other elements like nitrogen. Due to its non-biodegradable nature, the
waste plastic contributes significantly to the problem of waste management. According to a
nationwide survey which was conducted in the year 2000, approximately 6000 tons of waste
plastics were generated every day in India, and only 60% of it was recycled, the balance of
40% could not be disposed off. Today about 129 million tons of waste plastics are produced
annually all over the world, out of which 77 million tones are produced from petroleum.

Fig 1.1: pie-diagram showing different types of MSW materials

Plastics are human-made, synthetic polymers made from long chains of carbon and
other elements. Through a process called cracking, crude oil and natural gases are converted
to hydrocarbon monomers like ethylene, propylene, styrene, vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol,
and so on. These are then mixed with other chemicals to produce a desired finished product -
plasticizers like phthalates to make PVC soft, butadiene to make plastic tough, and many
others. Additional additives include bacteria, heat, light, colour, and friction. To create the

1
desired form and shape of the plastic, the materials is finally cast, spun, molded, fabricated,
extruded, or applied as a coating on another material [3].

Waste is now a global problem, and one that must be addressed in order to solve the
world's resource and energy challenges. Plastics are made from limited resources such as
petroleum, and huge advances are being made in the development of technologies to recycle
plastic waste among other resources. Mechanical recycling methods to make plastic products
and feedstock recycling methods that use plastic as a raw material in the chemical industry
have been widely adopted, and awareness has also grown recently of the importance of
Thermal recycling as a means of using plastics as an energy source to conserve petroleum
resources.

Fig 1.2: Pie-chart showing diffent types of PSW

It can be said 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/or reduce costs. These polymers can be molded or extruded into
desired shapes.

Plastics are everywhere in our lives - our kitchens, our vehicles, our purses, and even inside
our own bodies. Check out the many ways plastics can be found all around you [3].

 High impact polystyrene (HIPS): Vending machine cups, food packaging,

refrigerator liners
 High-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic : Beverage containers, cleaning
product containers, shopping bags, cabling, pipes, wood composites

2
  Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic s: Produce bags, flexible food
containers, shrink wrap, lining for cardboard, wire coverings, toys

1.1 TYPES OF PLASTICS [6]

Plastic are classified into two types based on their physical properties. They are
1.1.1. Thermoplastics:
Thermo plastic materials are those materials that are made of polymers linked by
intermolecular interactions or van der waals, forming linear or branched structures. These can
be repeatedly soften and melt if enough heat is applied and hardened on cooling, so that they
can be made into new plastic products. Thermo plastics can be heated, moulded and shaped
various ways.
Thermo plastics have wide ranging properties depending upon their chemistry they
can be very much like rubber, or as strong as aluminium. They are light weight with densities
of 0.9 to 2 gm/cc. Some high temperature thermo plastic materials can withstand temperature
of extremes up to 6000F.While others retain their properties at -1000F. Most thermo plastic
materials are excellent insulators both electrical and thermal. On the other hand thermo
plastic composites can be made to be electrically conductive with the addition of carbon or
metal fibres. Most thermo plastics have better fatigue properties than metals and will tolerate
larger deflections than metals without deforming.
Ex: polyethylene, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, among others.
1.1.2. Thermosets or thermosetting plastics:
Thermo setting plastics are strong and resistant to heat, but they melt the first time
they are heated to a high enough temperature and harden permanently when cooled. They can
never be melted or reshaped again. During molding, these resins acquire three dimensional
cross linked structure with predominantly strong covalent bonds that retain their strength and
structure even on heating. However on prolonged heating, thermoset plastics get charred. In
the softened state these resins harden quickly with pressure assisting the curing process.
Thermoset plastics are usually harder, stronger, and more brittle than thermo plastics and
cannot be reclaimed from wastes. These resins are insoluble in almost all inorganic solvents.
They are used in situations where resistance to heat is important. It is used to making
electrical goods.
Ex: phenol formaldehyde and urea formaldehyde.

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1.2 ADVANTAGES OF PLASTICS [5]:

We find considerable growth in use of plastic everywhere due to various beneficial properties
of plastics, such as:

(a) Extreme versatility and ability to be tailored to meet very specific technical needs.

(b) Lighter weight than competing materials, reducing fuel consumption during
transportation.

(c) Extreme durability.

(d) Resistance to chemicals, water and impact.

(e) Better safety and hygiene properties for food packaging.

(f) Excellent thermal and electrical insulation properties.

(g) Relatively inexpensive to produce.

1.3 DISADVANTAGES OF PLASTICS:

(a) Non-biodegradable

(b) They harm the environment by choking the drains

(c) The poisonous gases produces by decompose of plastic cause CANSER

(d) Non-renewable resource

(e) They produce toxic fumes when burnt

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 CHAPTER2

METHODS INVOLVED IN DEGRADATION OF PLASTICS

2.1 Incineration:
Incineration means burning of solid waste in controlled conditions. The most usual practice
of disposal of solid waste is burning open fields. This slow burning at low temperature
produces many hazardous gases. This waste contains inorganic matter also. Because of this
burning in heaps there is no control of supply of oxygen or rather there is no oxygen supply
except that present in the voids. This incomplete combustion at a low temperature produces
gases and these gases pollute the environment very close to us. Particularly the gases
produced by the burning of plastic, rubber and other such materials produce very much
harmful gases [1].

Fig 2.1: incineration

2.2. Land Filling:

The most common and easy way of disposal of solid waste is dumping it on the land.
When the combined waste (inorganic and organic) is disposed on the land then the
decomposition of the organic matter takes place in due course of time. This
decomposition produces gases (like methane) a dark coloured offensive water known as
leachate. If the ground on which the waste disposed is pervious then this leachate
percolates and mixes with the ground water and badly pollutes it. The mixing of these
pollutants through leachate makes the water polluted and contaminated. Secondly in open
land fills the rain water increases the volume of leachate and mixes it with the ground or
surface water source more easily. So the landfill should be so designed that it contains

5
 impermeable barrier to stop the mixing of leachate with the water. it should have a
diversion for the rain water and proper arrangement of the collection treatment and
disposal of leachate. Such type of land fill is known as the sanitary landfill. And are the
most desirable ones. They may appear costly, but for long life time of such works and
comparing the end results the cost/ton of waste disposed might be less than any other
method of disposal [1].

Fig 2.2: Land filling

2.3 Need for safe disposal of waste plastic:

Plastic waste should be disposed in a proper manner otherwise it causes many problems. Due
to incineration process toxic release into atmosphere causes environmental pollution and
many health problems. Other way for disposal of waste plastic is land filling, as it takes
thousands of years to degrade they remain in the earth surface causes bio-magnification, land
pollution and decreases and soil fertility. If the plastic filled in the ocean the aquatic life will
disturbed. It forms a thick layer on the water there is no chance for to get oxygen by water
bodies. To avoid all these problems waste plastic should be disposed in safe manner [4].

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 CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Origin of problem:

Ever since the first industrial scale production of synthetic polymers (plastics) took
place in the 1940s, the production, consumption and waste generation rate of plastic solid
waste (PSW) has increased considerably. Thus, PSW recycling has been a focus of many
researchers in the past few decades. Such research is also driven by changes in regulatory and
environmental issues.
Plastics are used in our daily lives in a number of applications. From greenhouses, coating
and wiring, to packaging, films, covers, bags and containers. It is only reasonable to find a
considerable amount of PSW in the final stream of municipal solid waste (MSW).
Thermoplastics contribute to the total plastic consumption by roughly 80%, and are
used for typical plastics applications such as packaging but also in non-plastics applications
such as textile fibres and coatings (Dewil et al., 2006). While plastics are found in all major
MSW categories, containers and packaging plastics (bags, sacks, and wraps, other packaging,
other containers, and soft drink, milk, and water containers) represent the highest tonnage
(USEPA,2002; USEPA, 2008). In durable goods, plastics are found in appliances, furniture,
casings of lead-acid batteries, and other products. In the UK, recent studies show that PSW
make up 7% of the final waste stream (Parfitt, 2002). Packaging accounts for 37.2% of all
plastics consumed in Europe and 35% worldwide (Clark and Hardy, 2004)[2].

3.2 Prof.Alka U.Zadgoaonkar

a) Prof. Alka U. Zadgoaonkar has invented a process system, which converts polymeric
materials into liquid, solid and gaseous fuel. The process consists of two steps:

b) Random De-polymerization: Loading of waste plastics into the reactor along with the
catalyst system. Random de-polymerization of the waste plastics occurs when plastics are
heated along with catalyst.

c) Fractional distillation: Separation of various liquid fuels by virtue of the difference in their
boiling points.

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The process description:

The waste plastic is sorted based on the physical properties such as hardness, softness, films
etc. Size reduction is carried out using shredder and cutter and graded to uniform size. The
graded feed is mixed and fed to the melting vessel through a pre heater feeder and heated up
to 175-250 0C.The impurities such as clay, metals, glass etc settles at the bottom and sent to
water column for separation of HCL gas and gaseous hydrocarbons. The molten plastic is
sent to main reactor which is maintained at (300-350) 0C and atmospheric pressure, the
reaction takes place in presence of coal and catalyst to convert the molten plastic into
hydrocarbon shall be condensed and separated into liquid and gas streams.

3.3 Jerzy walendziewski and Micczysaw Stciniger:

Jerzy Walendziewski and Micczysaw Stcininger from Wroctaw University of Technology,

Wroctaw, Poland cracked waste samples of polyethylene and polystyrene thermally or in the
presence of catalyst and hydrogen in closed in closed autoclaves. The obtained products were
submitted to analysis; unsaturated hydrocarbons in gasoline and diesel fuel range boiling
were hydrogenated over platinum catalyst. It was stated that the optimum thermal cracking
temperature of waste poly olefines is 410-430 0C, in the case of catalytic process lower
temperature, 390 0C, cn be used, with reaction time ca, 1.5 an hour. More than 90% yield of
gas and liquid fractions with b.p<360 0C was attained. The dependencies between process
parameters, feed composition and product yield as well as composition of thee obtained fuel
fractions were found on the basis of the obtained results.

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 CHAPTER 4

RECYCLING OF WASTE PLASTIC

4.1 Need to recycle the plastics:

Recycling of plastics is desirable because it avoids their accumulation in landfills. While

plastics constitute only about 8 percent by weight or 20 percent by volume of municipal solid
waste, their low density and slowness to decompose makes them a visible pollutant of public
concern. It is evident that the success of recycling is limited by the development of successful
strategies for collection and separation. Recycling of scrap plastics by manufacturers has
been highly successful and has proven economical, but recovering discarded plastics from
consumers is more difficult [4].

4.2 Stages of plastic recycling process:

Fig 4.1: stages of plastic recycling

4.2.1 Plastic identification:

Every plastic bag or plastic product can be recycled. Mixed plastic or poor quality plastic or
drawstring bags can’t be recycled. Plastic bags and plastic products before taking them into
consideration for a possible recycling [2].

9
Table 4.1: list of different types of plastics and their identification codes

4.2.2 Washing the impurities:

Plastic worthy for a recycling, it is separated and taken into the next level, where it is cleaned.
The washing process starts with removing the labels on plastic products, laminated bags or
any other labelled product of plastic. Once the labels are removed the other impurities and
adhesives are removed. Until and unless these impurities are removed the quality of recycled
plastic wouldn’t improve [2].

4.2.3 Tearing of the plastic:

In the third stage, the waste plastic is loaded onto the conveyor belt that takes the plastic bags
directly towards rotating metal teeth that tears the plastic into small pieces. The same plastic
pieces are bagged up and passed through a stringent quality check [2].

4.2.4 Re-identification of the plastic grades:

Once the shredded plastic is passed through a stringent quality and chemical test, the plastic
pieces are labelled differently as per the quality of plastics and its grade. Certain Grade
plastics extracted from drawstring bags or plastic products are blended with virgin plastic and
taken to the next level of recycling [2].

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4.2.5 Extruding:

The last stage of the recycling process involves melting the clean plastic pieces and extruding
into the form of pellets. These pallets are then sent to the manufacturing unit, where they are
manufactured with the next lot of plastics. The next lot of plastic is then converted into
wonderful plastic products we use in our daily lives [2].

4.3 Methods of Recycling:

Plastic Solid Waste (PSW) treatment and recycling processes could be allocated to 4 major
categories.

1. Re-extrusion (primary recycling)

2. Mechanical recycling (secondary recycling)

3. Chemical recycling (tertiary recycling)

4. Energy recovery (quaternary recycling)

Each method of unique set of advantages that make it particularly beneficial for specific
locations, applications or requirements. Mechanical recycling (i.e. secondary or material
recycling) involves physical treatment, while chemical recycling treatment produces
feedstock chemicals for the chemical industry. Energy recovery involves complete or partial
oxidation of the material, producing heat, power and gaseous fuels, oil and chars besides by-
products that must be disposed of, such as ash [2].

4.3.1. Re-extrusion (primary recycling):

Primary recycling, better known as re-extrusion, is the re-introduction of scrap,

industrial or single-polymer plastic edges and parts to the extrusion cycle in order to produce
products of the similar material. This process utilizes scrap plastics that have similar features
to the original products. Primary recycling is only feasible with semi-clean scrap, therefore
making it an unpopular choice with recyclers. A valid example of primary recycling is the
injection moulding of out of specification LDPE crates. Crates that do not meet the
specifications are palletized and reintroduced into the recycling loop or the final stages of the
manufacturing. Currently, most of the PSW being recycled is of process scrap from industry
recycled via primary recycling techniques. In the UK, process scrap represents 250,000

11
tonnes of the plastic waste and approximately 95% of it is primary recycled. Primary
recycling can also involve the re-extrusion of post-consumer plastics. Generally, households
are the main source of such waste stream. However, recycling household waste represents a
number of challenges, namely the need of selective and segregated collection. Kerbside
systems are required to collect relatively small quantities of mixed PSW from a large number
of sources. This poses a resource drain and involves significant operating costs in many
countries, especially considering the current market situation.

4.3.2. Mechanical recycling (secondary recycling):

Fig 4.2: Process flow sheet of mechanical recycling

Mechanical recycling, also known as secondary recycling, is the process of recovering plastic
solid waste (PSW) for the re-use in manufacturing plastic products via mechanical means. It
was promoted and commercialized all over the world back in the 1970s. Mechanical
recycling of PSW can only be performed on single-polymer plastic, e.g. PE, PP, PS, etc. The
more complex and contaminated the waste, the more difficult it is to recycle it mechanically.
Separation, washing and preparation of PSW are all essential to produce high quality, clear,
clean and homogenous end-products. One of the main issues that face mechanical recyclers is
the degradation and heterogeneity of PSW. Since chemical reactions that constitute polymer
formation (i.e. polymer addition, polymerization and poly condensation) are all reversible in
theory, energy or heat supply can cause photo-oxidation and/or mechanical stresses which

12
occur as a consequence. Length or branching of polymer chains can also occur from the
formation of oxidized compounds and/or harsh natural weathering conditions. Due to the
previously stated reasons, it is very important to have a customer ready to purchase the
product to achieve a sensible economical and environmental practice. Nevertheless,
mechanical recycling opens an economic and viable route for PSW recovery, especially for
the case of foams and rigid plastics a number of products found in our daily lives come from
mechanical recycling processes, such as grocery bags, pipes, gutters, window and door
profiles, shutters and blinds, etc. The quality is the main issue when dealing with
mechanically recycled products. The industrial PSW generated in manufacturing, processing,
and distribution of plastic products is well suited for the use as a raw material for mechanical
recycling due to the clear separation of different types of resins, the low level of dirt and
impurities present, and their availability in large quantities. Mechanical recycling of PSW has
also become an important issue in R&D, where numerous researchers have devoted their
efforts to. Recent literature published shows a great interest in utilizing poly olefins that end
up in the PSW stream.

Existing plants and technologies applied in mechanical recycling. PSW via

mechanical means involves a number of treatments and preparation steps to be considered.
Being a costly and an energy intense process, mechanical recyclers try to reduce these steps
and working hours as much as possible. Generally, the first step in mechanical recycling
involves size reduction of the plastic to a more suitable form (pellets, powder or flakes). This
is usually achieved by milling, grinding or shredding the steps involved are usually the
following:
 Cutting/shredding: Large plastic parts are cut by shear or saw for further processing
into chopped small flakes.
 Contaminant separation: Paper, dust and other forms of impurities are separated
from plastic usually in a cyclone.
 Floating: Different types of plastic flakes are separated in a floating tank according to
their density.
 Milling: Separate, single-polymer plastics are milled together. This step is usually
taken as a first step with many recyclers around the world.
 Washing and drying: This step refers to the pre-washing stage (beginning of the
washing line). The actual plastic washing process occurs afterwards if further
treatment is required.

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 Both washing stages are executed with water. Chemical washing is also employed in
certain cases (mainly for glue removal from plastic), where caustic soda and
surfactants are used.
 Agglutination: The product is gathered and collected either to be stored and sold later
on after the addition of pigments and additives, or sent for further processing.
 Extrusion: The plastic is extruded to strands and then pelletized to produce a single-
polymer plastic.
 Quenching: Involves water-cooling the plastic by water to be granulated and sold as
a final product.
Other single-polymer PSW go through different schemes. Many foams (namely polyurethane,
PU) are powdered and grinded to a particle size less than 0.2 mm using two-roll milling,
cryogenic grinders or precision knife cutters. Another process used in mechanical recycling is
re-bonding, in which recycled foam flakes originating from flexible slab stock foam
production waste are usually blown from storage silos into a mixer that consists of a fixed
drum with rotating blades or agitators, where the foam flakes are sprayed with an adhesive
mixture shows a schematic illustration of the re-bonding process. One of the main advantages
of this process is the ability to obtain a clean product with new properties, i.e. higher density
and lower hardness. In the case of PU, 10% binder is added to the 90% scrap. Waste is
shredded and mixed with binder (dyes can also be added) and the mixture is then compressed.
PU recycled granules are used as filler in polyester moulding compounds and give added
toughness to the material. This process yields a variety of products such as carpet underlay
and athletic mats from recovered pieces of flexible foams. The re-bond process incorporates
both a surprising amount of flexibility and a wide variability in the mechanical properties of
the final product. PVC represents an interesting case too, in terms of mechanical recycling.
Due to its structure and composition, PVC can easily be mechanically recycled in order to
obtain good quality recycling material. Careful and proper sorting is of crucial importance for
the optimal recycling of PVC. After an initial visual check, the collected PVC materials are
shredded into pieces of•10–15 cm. The metals and non-ferrous metals are mechanically
eliminated afterwards. The company classifies the post-consumer plastics into rigid and
flexible material. Rigid PVC recycled material is mainly used as an inner reinforcement layer
in pipes and profiles production, garden furniture or rigid films manufacture. Flexible PVC
waste is recycled into powder and is used as filler in the production of floor coverings of
various kinds. Other applications are traffic cones, fences, flexible hoses and tubes, footwear,

14
bags, clothing, etc. A valid example of utilizing PSW is the recycling of PET. About three-
quarter of reclaimed PET in the UK and USA is used to manufacture fibres for carpets,
apparel and bottles. Two approaches have been widely promoted, mechanical recycling and
methanolysis (chemical recycling). Once the PET has been collected and sorted, it represents
a feedstock for reclamation processing lines. Reclamation involves washing the materials
(mainly bottles) and conditioning the plastics to be processed as semi-virgin resin or master
batch. In doing so, a clear grade of PET can be produced of high quality to compete with the
virgin polymer. This technique is practiced widely in the EU and USA. In Tokyo (Japan), a
council for PET bottle recycling has been established since 1993 to promote mechanical
recycling of PET bottles in the municipalities of Tokyo. PET bottles obtained by household
sorting are collected, compressed and packed by municipalities for transportation to recycling
plants operated by recycling industries. At the recycling plant, the waste is selected to remove
impurities and the remaining PET bottles are then shredded, cleaned, foreign bodies and non-
resins separated, and the remainder turned into flakes and pellets (granules made of flakes
thermally processed by granulator) for recycling. The recycled materials are then sent to
textile and sheet-making plants, where they are again molten to produce textile and sheet
products by resin moulding techniques well established for PET and other plastics
conversion.
These techniques could be summarized as follows:
 Extrusion moulding: The resin or PSW flakes are molten and extruded through a
mould by single or twin screws to form a moulded product. Products from this
process include pipes, sheets, film and wire covering.
 Injection moulding: Heated molten resin is injected into a mould to solidify and
form the product desired. Products made this way range from washbowls, buckets and
plastic models to larger products such as bumpers and pallets.
 Blow moulding: A parison (hollow plastic melt) obtained by extrusion or injection
moulding is clamped in a mould, and inflated with air to make bottles for all kinds of
uses, such as shampoo bottles. PET bottles are made by means of stretch blow
moulding so as to make them less likely to rupture.
 Vacuum moulding: A heat-softened sheet is sandwiched in a mould, and the space
between the sheet and mould sealed and evacuated to form products such as cups and
trays.

15
  Inflation moulding: Extrusion moulding where a molten resin is inflated into a
cylinder into form a film. This method is used to make products such as shopping
bags.
Another major company that deals with PSW is Nexcycle Plastics Inc. (NPI, Canada)
which markets a number of recycled products made from scrap polyolefins. NPI deals
with LDPE, LLDPE, MDPE, HDPE and PP. The scrap that is being dealt with is
transformed mechanically to bales, rolls, regrinded PSW, and chunks. The company
also deals with a variety of colored scrap, including clear, white, black, mixed and
printed PSW. Alternatively, many companies deal with black and/or clear scrap for
mechanical recycling processing lines, saving by that cost of sorting. This is the case
of Metals and Recycling Co. (MRC, Kuwait); which covers almost exclusively the
GCC, far and south-eastern Asian markets. The company processes various types of
scrap plastic such as PP, PE, PVC, PPC, ABS, etc. The plant’s output of PE and PP is
mainly delivered as clean and uniform pellets, whereas other scrap materials are
processed as flakes.
4.3.3. Chemical Recycling (Tertiary Recycling):
Chemical (tertiary) recycling is a term used to refer to advanced technology processes
which convert plastic materials into smaller molecules, usually liquids or gases, which are
suitable for use as a feedstock for the production of new petrochemicals and plastics. The
term chemical is used, due to the fact that an alteration is bound to occur to the chemical
structure of the polymer. Products of chemical recycling have proven to be useful as fuel. The
technology behind its success is the depolymerization processes that can result in a very
profitable and sustainable industrial scheme, providing a high product yield and minimum
waste. Under the category of chemical recycling advanced process (similar to those employed
in the petrochemical industry) appears e.g: pyrolysis, gasification, liquid–gas hydrogenation,
viscosity breaking, steam or catalytic cracking and the use of PSW as a reducing agent in
blast furnaces.
Recently, much attention has been paid to chemical recycling (mainly non-catalytic thermal
cracking (thermolysis), catalytic cracking and steam degradation) as a method of producing
various fuel fractions from PSW. By their nature, a number of polymers are advantageous for
such treatment. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and certain polyamides can be efficiently
depolymerised. In particular, polyethylene (PE) has been targeted as a potential feedstock for
fuel (gasoline) producing technologies. Studied the thermal cracking behaviour of HDPE. It

16
was reported that PE thermally cracks into gases, liquids, waxes, aromatics and char via five
primary and two secondary reactions to form five lumped products.
There is also a growing interest in developing value added products such as synthetic
lubricants via PE thermal degradation. The development of value added recycling
technologies is highly desirable as it would increase the economic incentive to recycle
polymers. Several methods for chemical recycling are presently in use, such as direct
chemical treatment involving gasification, smelting by blast furnace or coke oven and
degradation by liquefaction. Condensation polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) and nylon undergo degradation to produce monomer units, i.e. feedstock or monomer
recycling, while vinyl polymers such as polyolefins produce a mixture containing numerous
components for use as a fuel. Various degradation methods for obtaining petrochemicals are
presently under investigation, and conditions suitable for pyrolysis and gasification are being
researched extensively. Catalytic cracking and reforming facilitate the selective degradation
of waste plastics. The use of solid catalysts such as silica alumina, ZSM-5, zeolites, and
mesoporous materials for these purposes has been reported. These materials effectively
convert poly olefins into liquid fuel, giving lighter fractions as compared to thermal cracking.
The main advantage of chemical recycling is the possibility of treating heterogeneous and
contaminated polymers with limited use of pre-treatment. If a recycler is considering a
recycling scheme with 40% target or more, one should deal with materials that are very
expensive to separate and treat. Thus, chemical recycling becomes a viable solution.
Petrochemical plants are much greater in size (6–10 times) than plastic manufacturing plants.
It is essential to utilize petrochemical plants in supplementing their usual feedstock by using
PSW derived feedstock.
4.3.4. Energy recovery (quaternary recycling):

By definition, Energy recovery implies burning waste to produce energy in the form of heat,
steam and electricity. This is only considered a very sensible way of waste treatment, when
material recovery processes fail due to economical constrains. Plastic materials possess a
very high calorific value (when burned); especially when considering that they are derived
from crude oil. Below table illustrates the calorific value of a number of single-polymer
plastics, compared to oil and MSW. Since the heating value of plastics is high, they make a
convenient energy source. Producing water and carbon-dioxide upon combustion make them
similar to other petroleum based fuels.

17
Table 4.2: Calorific values of different types of plastics

18
 CHAPTER 5

Fuel Oil Production from Municipal Plastic Wastes in Sequential

Pyrolysis and Catalytic Reforming Reactors

Catalytic Reforming:
Petroleum refinery process in which low-octane products(such as naphtha) of catalytic
cracking are re-formed into higher-octane ones higher pressure and temperature and in
presence of catalyst.
Chemical recycling via pyrolysis process is one of the promising methods to recycle waste
plastics which involve thermo chemical decomposition of organic and synthetic materials at
elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen to produce fuels. The process is usually
conducted at temperatures between 500- 8000C. These pyrolytic products can be divided into
liquid fraction, gaseous fraction and solid residues. Pyrolysis or thermal degradation of
plastics has been investigated by many researchers. There are four types of mechanisms of
plastics pyrolysis i.e. end-chain scission or depolymerization, random-chain scission, chain
stripping and cross-linking. Thermal degradation behaviour of plastics has been investigated
by Aboulkas et al. The activation energy and the reaction model of the pyrolysis of
polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) have been estimated for non-isothermal kinetic
results.
The low thermal conductivity and high viscosity of plastics are the major challenges
for designing the cracking reactor. Several reactor systems have been developed and used
such as batch/semi batch, fixed bed, fluidized bed, spouted bed, microwave and screw kiln.
Batch or semi-batch reactors have been used by many researchers because of its simple
design and easy operation.
Pyrolysis:
Pyrolysis is a process of thermal degradation of a material in the absence of oxygen.
Plastic is continuously treated in a cylindrical chamber and the pyrolytic gases condensed in a
specially-designed condenser system to yield a hydrocarbon distillate comprising straight and
branched chain aliphatics, cyclic aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The resulting mixture
is essentially equivalent to petroleum distillate. The plastic is pyrolised at 3700C-4200C and
the pyrolysis gases are condensed and liquid separated using fractional distillation to produce
the liquid fuel products [12].

19
Catalytic Cracking:
Petroleum refinery process in which heavy oil passed through metal chambers under high
pressure and high temperature in the presence of catalyst called catalytic cracking.

Thermal degradation:
It means- the breaking down of a chemical compound by heat into smaller
components which do not recombine on cooling. However, the thermal degradation of
plastics has a major drawback such as very broad product range and requirement of high
temperature. 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. However, the direct
catalytic cracking of plastic wastes has a number of drawbacks which has prevented its
commercial success. The first relates to difficulty to recover the catalyst after use, which
increases the operational cost. Furthermore, direct contact with plastic wastes will make
catalyst deactivate rapidly due to the deposition of carbonaceous matter and the poisoning
effect of extraneous elements and impurities such as chlorine, sulfur and nitrogen containing
species that may be present in the plastic wastes.
Therefore, separation of catalytic reforming reaction from pyrolysis stage can be applied to
overcome these ZSM-5 catalysts. The results showed an increase in the gas yield and
reduction in the oil yield. The use of other catalysts such as silica alumina and Al-MCM-41
has also been investigated by others. Catalytic reforming of waste agricultural polyethylene
film over Al-MCM-41 catalyst produced heavier hydrocarbon products than HZSM catalyst.
However, the use of catalyst is the main cost burden for recycling of plastic wastes by
pyrolysis. Reducing the catalyst cost for small scale application in developing countries like
Indonesia is very interesting challenges. Natural zeolites which can be found in many places
worldwide including Indonesia might be used as a candidate for this purpose instead of the
commercial catalysts.
A large number of papers have been published describing the pyrolysis of plastics.
There are only few papers utilizing real plastic wastes as feedstocks. Plastic wastes can be
classified as industrial and municipal plastic wastes according to their origins. These groups
have different qualities and properties. Industrial plastic wastes (IPW) are those arising from
the plastics manufacturing and processing industry. Municipal plastic wastes (MPW)

20
normally remain a part of municipal solid wastes as they are discarded and collected as
household wastes. In Yogyakarta city- Indonesia, plastic wastes contributed 9.96% to the
municipal solid wastes.
Pyrolysis and catalytic reforming of MPW which comprise PE, PP and PS have been
studied by Wang and Wang over nickel-loaded silica alumina catalysts. Bhaskar et al. have
compared the thermal degradation products from MPW and model mixed plastics. The
presence of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in model mixed plastics and MPW increased
the formation of new chlorinated hydrocarbons in liquid products and also drastic decrease in
the formation of inorganic chlorine content. The role of impurities in MPW was also
significant. The impurities were toxic for acidic catalyst and led to easy deactivation of
catalyst in the case of conversion of MPW.
Upgrading of pyrolytic oil produced from MPW has also been investigated using FCC
catalyst as a cracking catalyst. The addition of FCC catalyst in degradation process showed
the improvement of liquid and gas yields and also high fraction of heavy hydrocarbons in oil
product due to more cracking residue. Non-catalytic pyrolysis process has also been studied
using waste PE, PP and PS. The results showed that waste PS produced higher liquid while
waste PE and PP produced higher gaseous products.
In this project, we studied a sequential pyrolysis and catalytic reforming system for
municipal plastic wastes degradation using commercial and Indonesian natural zeolite
catalysts. Our system will utilize all kind of products as fuels including liquid, gaseous and
solid products. This novel proposed system will utilize liquid product for fueling a diesel
engine as a single fuel or blending with commercial diesel fuel. This oil can also be used in a
pressurized cooking stove. The gaseous product can be used either as a heating source for the
reactors or cooking gas stove application. The solid products will be used for co-firing with
coal and biomass which can be utilized as a fuel for several applications.

5.2. Materials and methods:

5.2.1. Materials:
The feedstocks used for these experiments were three kinds of municipal plastic
wastes, i.e. polyethylene bag with (PE bag 2) and without (PE bag 1) crushing and washing,
and high density polyethylene (HDPE) waste after crushing and washing. They were obtained
from the final disposal site and the small plastic recycling company in Yogyakarta city,
Indonesia. The appearance of the feedstocks is shown in Fig. The catalysts used for these
works were commercial Y-zeolite and natural zeolite.

21
 The Y zeolite was obtained from Zeolyst International. It has SiO2/Al2O3 mole ratio
of 80, the surface area of 780 m2/g in the powder form. The diameter of the pellet was 1.6
mm which contains 20% of aluminum oxide as a binder. Natural zeolite was collected from
Klaten, Indonesia. The natural zeolite was calcined at 500oC for 3 hours to remove some
volatile substances.

Fig 5.1: The feedstock used in the experiments: (a) PE bag 1; (b) HDPE waste; and (c) PE bag 2.

The chemical properties and BET surface area of natural zeolite is shown in Table 1.
In order to examine the crystalline structure in the natural zeolite, the XRD patterns of sample
is shown in Fig below. It varies depending on their mining sites. It can be seen that the main
structure of the natural zeolite catalyst was identified to be mordenite. Most of the peaks
observed at 2θ (degree) = 5-35 for the natural zeolite samples can be assigned to be those of
mordenite type crystalline matter[13] .The samples showed relatively broad base lines. This
suggests that the samples contain amorphous and crystalline impurities.

Mass spectrometry (MS):

Mass spectrometry (MS or mass spec) is a technique used by chemists to determine
molecular structure through ionization and fragmentation of the parent compound into
smaller components. Specific functional groups will fragment in recognizable ways, and
chemists can use these patterns to identify functional groups in an unknown compound. MS
can also be used in the food-production industry for detecting small quantities of
contamination such as bacteria in a very reliable way. MS works by ionizing a chemical
compound allowing it to fragment and then measuring the mass to charge ratios of the
resulting ions.
MS can also be combined with a separation technique such as gas chromatography
where a complex mixture of materials is separated and then each compound is analyzed
individually.

22
Gas chromatography (GS):
It is used to separate organic compounds that are volatile. A gas chromatograph
consists of flowing mobile phase, an injection port, a separation column containing the
stationary phase, a detector, and a data recording system.
The organic compounds are separated due to differences in their partitioning behavior
between the mobile gas phase and the stationary phase in the column. Mobile phases are
generally inert gases such as helium, argon or nitrogen [10].

Table 5.1: Chemical composition and BET surface area of natural zeolite (NZ)

Fig 5.2: X-Ray powder diffraction pattern of natural zeolite samples

5.2.2. Pyrolysis and catalytic reforming experiments:

Pyrolysis and catalytic reforming experiments were carried out in a pilot scale two
stage reactor using batch system. It consists of the pyrolysis reactor and the catalytic
reforming reactor. The pyrolysis reactor and the reformer were made of stainless steel and
covered with an electric heater. The pyrolyzer’s inner diameter and height are 200 mm and
400 mm, respectively. The reformer’s inner diameter and height are 100 mm and 400 mm,
respectively. A shell and tube type condenser was installed at the outlet of the reformer to
separate gas and liquid products.
In these experiments, 1.6-2.6 kg of the feedstock was fed into the pyrolysis reactor.
The pyrolyzer and the reformer were then heated up to the preset temperatures. The catalyst

23
(100 g) was loaded in the catalytic reforming reactor, where the pyrolysis gas generated in the
first reactor was reformed. After having the reforming reaction, the gas was condensed into
liquid products in the condenser. Liquid products were then collected and weighed for mass
balance calculation. The experiments were carried out at the pyrolyzer temperature of 450°C
and the reforming temperature of 450°C. The gaseous products were burned off to prevent
emission from hydrocarbon gases.

Fig 5.3: experimental apparatus

5.2.3. Liquid product analysis:

The fraction of liquid products were analysed by using a gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry (GC-MS, QP2010S Shimadzu). The column was DB-1 (Crossbond R 100%
dimethyl polysiloxane) capillary column, 30m length with 0.25 mm diameter and 0.2 μm film
thickness. Helium was used as the carrier gas. The temperature program used was, initial
temperature 80°C for 5 min followed by a heating rate of 8 °C /min to 305 °C and then held
at 305°C for 17 min.

5.3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

5.3.1. Effect of different types of feed stocks:
The product yields as the effect of different types of the feedstocks can be seen in Fig 4(a).
Commercial Y-zeolite was used in these experiments. PE bag 1 obtained from the final
disposal site still produced water and highest portion of solid residue because of uncrushed
and unwashed sample. It means that very high impurities were exist in the sample. The water
might be obtained from organic material impurities which normally have high moisture

24
 Fig 5.4: Effect of different types of feedstocks on (a) the product yields; and (b) the liquid fraction
composition.

These impurities have also led to a high percentage of gaseous products. The organic
materials such as biomass produced high gaseous fraction up to 50% during pyrolysis
process. All samples produced higher solid residues compared with those of pure plastics as
reported by others which produce less than 5% of residues. It means that the impurities were
dominated in the solid residues. HDPE waste produced highest liquid fraction and lowest
gaseous fraction. The strong structure of HDPE made it more difficult to crack the
hydrocarbon chains into lighter hydrocarbons.
However, the heavy oil fraction was still high in the oil from HDPE waste as shown
in Fig. 4(b) indicating the low quality of the oil. The liquid products have been classified into
three groups i.e. the gasoline fraction (C5-C12), diesel fuel fraction (C13-C20) and heavy oil
(>C20). As can be seen in Fig. 4(b), PE bag 2 produced highest diesel fraction while PE bag
1 produced highest gasoline fraction. As mentioned previously, the organic materials
presence in PE bag 1 contributed to the high fraction of gasoline as reported by Lei et al for
biofuel production. It was found that C6-C14 chemical compounds were up to 95% of bio-
oils. HDPE waste yielded lower diesel fuel fraction than that of PE bag 2. This is due to the
different materials in PE bag 2 which consist mostly of low density polyethylene.

5.3.2. General tests recommended for diesel fuels are:

a) Pour Point
b) Aniline Point-Diesel Index (Cetane Number)
c) Flash Point
d) Calorific Values
e) Viscosity

25
a) Pour point:
 It is the lowest temperature at which the fuel becomes semi solid and loses its flow
characteristics.
 Fuel at minimum ambient temperature must be free flowing.
 In India pour point is fixed at 5oC.
 In Himalaya belt, where climate persists sub-zero level this may not be satisfactory,
hence low pour point oil are essential.
 It is also observed that at close approach of pour point (within 2 to 3oC), the viscosity
increases very much, results of which is high pumping cost.

b) Aniline point:
 Aniline point is defined as the minimum temperature at which equal volume of
anhydrous aniline and oil mix together.
 Low aniline point indicates, low diesel index (because of high percentage of
aromatics).
 Aniline point can also predict the amount of carbon present in the molecule
(aromatics).

c) Flash point:
 It is the minimum temperature at which the vapours from oil sample will give a
momentary flash on application of a standard flame under specific test condition.
 In India flash point of diesel kept 50‐55oC.

d) Calorific value:
 It is the energy contained in a fuel, determined by measuring the heat produced by the
complete combustion of a specified quantity of it.
 Fuel having calorific value 41.8 KJ per gm is sufficient.

e) Viscosity:
 It is a measure of internal resistance offered for the flow of a fluid.
 Most important characteristic for storage and use.
 For liquids viscosity decreases as temperature increases [12].

26
Table 5.2: Properties of liquid products for various feed stocks

The properties of the liquid products from the pyrolysis and catalytic reforming of
MPW are shown in Table 5.2. The properties of commercial diesel fuels in Indonesia are also
shown in Table 5.3 for comparison. Indonesia produced two kinds of diesel fuels viz. Diesel
48 (Solar) and Diesel 51. As can be seen in Table 5.2 and 5.3, the density of waste plastics
oils (WPO) is acceptable for substituting commercial diesel fuels.
However, the kinematic viscosity of WPO was lower than those of commercial diesel
fuels for PE bag 1 and PE bag 2. The higher fraction of gasoline and the lower fraction of
heavy oil contributed to the lower kinematic viscosity. Viscosity play significant role in the
lubrication of fuel injection systems, particularly those incorporating rotary distributor
injection pumps that rely fully on the fuel for lubrication within the high pressure pumping
mechanism. Lower fuel viscosity lead to greater pump and injector leakage reducing
maximum fuel delivery and ultimately power output. The flash points were lower than those
of diesel fuels. The flash point is an important parameter in relation to fuel storage. Higher
flash point will be safer for storing and transporting the fuels.

27
Table 5.3: Properties of commercial diesel fuels according to Indonesian Government regulation

WPO produced higher pour point than those of diesel fuels since the presence of
heavy oil which normally has high pour point. The property becomes very important when
diesel engine running in very low temperature condition especially in subtropical countries.
The water content presence in WPO was high. It will affect to the performance of diesel
engine.
5.3.3. Effect of catalysts:
Fig. 5.4(a) shows the product yields obtained from the sequential pyrolysis and
catalytic reforming of municipal plastic wastes as the effect of catalysts. PE bag 2 has been
used as a feedstock in these experiments. It can be seen that the thermal pyrolysis (without
catalyst) produced highest liquid fraction. The presence of catalyst reduced the liquid fraction
and increased the gaseous fraction. Theoretically, the catalyst can enhance the cracking
reaction of the pyrolysis gas. Long chain hydrocarbons have been cracked into lighter
hydrocarbon gases. Pyrolysis over natural zeolite catalyst produced higher liquid product
compared with Y zeolite catalyst. This is due to different activity between natural zeolite and
Y zeolite. As can be seen in Table 5.1, NZ has lower BET surface area than that of Y zeolite.
Higher surface area will give more contact between catalyst and pyrolysis gas which means
more gas will be cracked to produce shorter chain hydrocarbons.
However, the presence of catalysts has slightly effect to the product yields. This
might be due to the presence of impurities as mentioned previously. The impurity which
contains some toxic materials will deactivate the catalysts. Thus, the catalysts will have the
activity in the beginning of the reforming process and deactivate in the end of the process.

28
 Fig 5.5: Effect of catalysts on (a) the product yields; and (b) the liquid fraction composition.

Fig. 5.4(b) shows the carbon atom number distribution of WPO over different catalysts. The
heavy oil fraction (>C20) could be slightly reduced which affect to the quality of the oils. On
the other hand, the gasoline fractions (C5-C12) were increase because of cracking of longer
chain hydrocarbons into lighter chain hydrocarbons. The diesel fraction was almost similar in
all conditions. This is because the balance between the addition of diesel fraction from heavy
oil cracking and the reduction of diesel fraction cracked into gasoline fraction.
Table 5.4 shows the properties of liquid products over different catalysts. Similar
results have been obtained for all properties. The presence of the catalysts slightly decreased
the pour point. However, the values were still higher than those of commercial diesel fuels.
This condition will make WPO become solid in low temperature condition. The problems
with high pour point of WPO can be overcome by using additional heater before injecting the
fuel to ensure fluidity and keep the viscosity of the fuels. The heating value of WPO was
similar to the common commercial fuels due to the same origin of plastics and commercial
fuels which are produced from petroleum oil.

Table 5.4: Properties of liquid products for different catalysts

29
5.3.4. Solid residues:
The proximate analysis and heating value of the solid residue produced are shown in
Table 5.5. The results show that higher ash content of solid residues produced from MPW
compared with raw plastics as reported in previous works. PE bag 1 produced higher ash
content of solid product than others due to the high impurities which reduce the heating value
of the product. PE bag 2 has lowest ash content and highest heating value. In waste plastics,
fixed carbon and volatile matter contributed to the high heating value of solid products.
Unlike biomass, volatile matters in waste plastics contain mostly hydrocarbon gases which
have high energy content. Therefore, plastic pyrolysis produced higher heating value solid
products than those of biomass and low rank coal as reported by others. Therefore, they can
be used either for blending with biomass and coal or for single fuel [11].

Table 5.5: Proximate analysis of solid residues

CONCLUSION

Sequential pyrolysis and catalytic reforming of Indonesian municipal plastic wastes have
been done over Y- zeolite and natural zeolite catalysts. The results show that the feedstock
types strongly affect the product yields and the quality of liquid and solid products. HDPE
waste produced the highest liquid fraction. However, the heavy oil fraction was still high in
the oil from HDPE waste. The highest diesel fraction has been produced in PE bag 2 while
PE bag 1 produced highest gasoline fraction. The catalyst presences reduced the liquid
fraction and increased the gaseous fraction. Pyrolysis with natural zeolite catalyst produced
higher liquid product compared with Y-zeolite catalyst. However, the presence of catalysts
has slightly effect to the product yields. This might be due to the presence of impurities in
MPW. The quality of WPO was still lower than those of commercial diesel fuels according

30
to the oil properties. Blending of WPO and diesel fuels will obtain better quality of oil. MPW
pyrolysis produced higher heating value solid products than those of biomass and low rank
coal, so that they can be used either for blending with biomass and coal or for single fuel.
Finally we conclude that this recycling process is not only benefits economically but
also give a solution to environmental problems.

FUTURE SCOPE:
Research efforts on the pyrolysis of plastics in different conditions using different
catalysts and the process have been initiated. However, there are many subsequent problems
to be solved in the near future. The present issues are the necessary scale up, minimization of
waste handling costs and production cost, and optimization of gasoline range products for a
wide range of plastic mixtures or waste. Huge amount of plastic wastes produced may be
treated with suitably designed method to produce fossil fuel substitutes. The method is
superior in all respects (ecological and economical) if proper infrastructure and financial
support is provided. So, a suitable process which can convert waste plastic to hydrocarbon
fuel is designed and if implemented then that would be a cheaper partial substitute of the
petroleum without emitting any pollutants. It would also take care of hazardous plastic waste
and reduce the import of crude oil.

31
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