Anjuman-I-Islam’s

KALSEKAR TECHNICAL CAMPUS, New Panvel

PYROLYSIS CONVERTER

October 2022

Semester V

TE-ME-II

Department of Mechanical Engineering

i
 Anjuman-I-Islam’s
KALSEKAR TECHNICAL CAMPUS,
New Panvel

A Report
On
PYROLYSIS CONVERTER

October 2022

Guided by:
Prof. Shahbaz Haque
Asst. Prof. Communication Skills, AIKTC

Prepared by:
Shaikh Abdul Hannan (21DME75)
Shaikh Amanullah Mohammed Shoeb (21DME77)
Shaikh Izhan Ahmed (21DME83)
Shaikh Sameer Shamsher (21DME90)
Solkar Mohammed Sami (21DME97)
Syed Mohd Hassan Asrar Husain (21DME99)
Thakur Kamran Abdul Rawoof (21DME101)
Thakur Salman Mushtaq (21DME102)

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 Preface

We are pleased to offer you a report on Pyrolysis Converter. It has been made
as a part of Business Communication and Ethics Curriculum as stated by the
Mumbai University for the students of 5th semester of Engineering and
Technology.

The main objective of our topic is to make it as compact as possible and can be
used anywhere with no issues. Since Pyrolysis Convertor exists in a large scale
and is supplied to petrol pumps and other large scale places, so our main objective
becomes to make it compact and easy to use anywhere.

Acknowledgement

We are very grateful to the Head of Department (Mr. Asif Gandhi) for the
valuable guidance and support in making this report. We would like to express
our sincere thanks to Prof. Shahbaz Haque for all the valuable inputs and
suggestions shared for making this report. We are immensely thankful to all the
faculties and staff members of (Branch of Engineering) for their cooperation.

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 ABSTRACT
Plastic! has become omnipresent. From thin polythene bags to whole houses made from
recycled plastic, it can be said that plastic is most widely used material today. As popular and
useful it is, it also causes some serious damage to environment. Something had to be done to
get rid of this garbage that takes forever to degrade in soil. The present rate of economic growth
is unsustainable without saving of fossil energy like crude oil, natural gases, or coal. There are
many alternatives to fossil energy such as biomass, hydropower, wind energy. Waste plastic
disposal and excessive use of fossil fuels have caused environment concerns in the world. Both
plastics and petroleum derived fuels are hydrocarbons that contain the elements of carbon and
hydrogen. The difference between them is that plastic molecules have longer carbon chains
than those in LPG, petrol, and diesel fuels.

The gas obtained from the processing of the waste is the best way to produce heat and
electricity. One such new waste plastic is made up of a block of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and
ethanol as a filler, which is said to be safe to handle, due to its chemical structure and physical
properties. The output is called plastic wood. The recycled plastic wood is a good replacement
for wood in food packaging industry, furniture and interior decoration etc. Similar to vinyl
coated products, the recycled plastic wood has the same characteristics with the original, except
that there are some differences. The new plastic wood can be used to produce products such as
countertops, picture frames, picnic tables, yard furniture, etc., and is also often used for
manufacturing fire wood and charcoal.

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 Table of content

• Certificate i
• Declaration ii
• Preface iii
• Acknowledgment iii
• Abstract iv
• Table of content v
• List of Figures vi

Sr. No. Title Page No.

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background of Project 1
1.2 Aim of Project 5
1.3 Pyrolysis of plastic material 6
2 Existing systems 7
2.1 Ways of plastic management 7
2.2 Advancements in Pyrolysis process 8
3 Developed system 9
3.1 Overview of model 9
3.2 Design and Ergonomics 10
3.3 Construction and Working 11
3.4 Result and discussion 14
3.5 Costing 15
4 Conclusion 16

5 Future scope 17

6 References 18

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 List of Figures

Figure No. Title Page No.

1.1 Simplified expression of polystyrene 1
1.2 Seven types of recycled plastic 1
1.3 Plastic consumption in India 3
1.4 breaking of hydrocarbon chain during pyrolysis 6
1.5 flow chart of pyrolysis 7
2.1 plastic waste problem 8
3.1 Plastic waste management 10
4.1 schematic diagram of pyrolysis converter 12
4.2 dimensions of model 13
4.3 labelled diagram of model 14
4.4 Shredded plastic fed in reactor 15
4.5 coil condenser 15

4.6 pyrolysis oil distillation plant 16

4.7 comparison between plastic oil, petrol and diesel 17

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 Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background of project
Plastic is a high molecular weight material that was invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862.
Plastics are also called polymers. The term polymer means a molecule made by repetition of
simple unit. For example, the structure of polystyrene can be written in a form as shown in
fig below

Figure 1-1 A simplified expression of polystyrene

The repeating unit of the polymer is in the bracket with a subscript, n, to represent the number
of the unit in this polymer molecule.

Plastic is one of the most commonly used materials in day to day life which can be classified
in many ways such as based on its chemical structure, synthesis process, density, and other
properties. In order to assist recycling of the waste plastic, Society of Plastic 2 Industry (SPI)
defined a resin identification code system that divides plastics into the following seven
groups based on the chemical structure and applications:
PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)
PP (Polypropylene)
PS (Polystyrene)
Other
The above seven types of plastics are marked on various plastic products as follows:

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 Figure 1.2 Marks of the seven types of plastics on various plastic products
Due to the convenience to manufacturing and use, the world plastic production has been
increasing since it was firstly commercially manufactured, from 1.5 million tons in 1950 to 260
million tons in 2006. One of the major concerns for extensive use of the plastics is the disposal of
the waste plastic. In addition, the plastics are produced from non-sustainable oil or coal, and thus
it is a non-sustainable product. There were 30.8 million tons of waste plastic generated in the U.S.
in 2007, which accounts for 12.2% of the total municipal solid wastes. In U.K., 4.9 million tons
of plastics were consumed in 2007. Europe consumes about 26% of the global plastic production,
which is equivalent to 60 million tons per year.

Our history makes it evident that the Indian plastic industry made a vigorous beginning in 1957.
But, it took more than 30 years for it to pervade Indian lifestyles.

In 1979, “the market for plastics” was just being seeded by the state-owned Indian Petro
Chemicals, and it was only in 1994 that plastic soft drink bottles became a visible source of

annoyance.

In the wake of the plague scare in Surat in 1994, people in other cities decried the state of public
sanitation and urged regulatory bodies to ban the production, distribution and use of plastic bags.

Since then plastic waste has become a common for the humblest waste pickers, especially women
and children who try to scrap together livelihoods through the most vulnerable ways in this

domain.

Moreover, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2015 estimated that average plastic

waste generation in the country is around 6.92 per cent of municipal solid waste (MSW).

Extrapolation of plastic waste generation data from 60 major cities showed that around 25,940
tons of plastic waste per day (TPD) is generated in India.
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Growth of plastic consumption in India between 2013 and 2018

Fig 1.3: Plastic Consumption in India

Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad are amongst the top

generators, while Gangtok, Panjim, Daman, Dwarka and Kavaratti are lowest on the index.

Of this, around 15,700 TPD or 60 per cent gets recycled and more than 9,400 tones ends up in the
seas, oceans or gets piled up on lands devoid of source segregation.

Growth, production and per capita consumption

The massive generation of plastic waste in India is due to rapid urbanization, spread of retail
chains, plastic packaging from grocery to food and vegetable products, to cosmetics and consumer
items.

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India’s plastic consumption at 11kgs is still only a tenth of the US and less than a third of China’s,

according to PlastIndia 2015. But, the projected high growth rates of GDP and continuing rapid

urbanisation suggest that India’s trajectory of plastic consumption and plastic waste is likely to

increase.

The plastic processing industry in 2018 estimated that polymer consumption from 2017 to 2022
is likely to grow at 10.4%, nearly half of which is single-use plastic.

A world of greater possibilities has now opened up to initiate appropriate and concrete actions to
build up the necessary institutions and systems ideally before oceans turn, irreversibly and for
centuries to come, into a thin soup of plastic.

However, there is no single masterstroke to counter the challenges witnessed by the staggering
plastic waste management in the country. So, the time is now to formulate robust and inclusive
National Action Plans, and while doing so, the country will establish greater transparency to
combat plastic jeopardy in a more sustainable and holistic way.

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1.2 Aim of project

• To raise awareness in developing countries on plastic waste and its possible reuse for
conversion into diesel or fuel.

• To reduce the dependency on gulf countries for fossil fuels, thereby contributing to the
economic growth of the country.

• To build up the reason for the improvement and execution of waste plastics reusing with
the use of environmentally sound technologies.

• To collect the household plastic waste from different places.

• To develop and fabricate the pyrolysis unit to produce liquid fuel from plastic waste.
• Conversion of household plastic waste in to liquid fuel.
• To purify the produced liquid fuel by water washing method.
• To conduct different experiments to determine different properties of liquid fuel.

• To Compare the properties of liquid fuel with diesel fuel.

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1.3 Pyrolysis of Plastic
Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of materials at higher temperatures in the absence of
oxygen (or an inert atmosphere). It is a chemical reaction process which involves molecular
breakdown of larger molecules into smaller molecules in the presence of heat. It includes the
difference in concoction arrangement and the procedure is irreversible. The word pyrolysis is
begat from the Greek-determined components pyro which signifies "fire" and lysis which
signifies "isolating".

Some commercial plastic pyrolysis plants have been in operation in which all types of post-
consumed plastics are accepted and need to be treated using hydrochloride scrubber which is for
PVC cracking and is not preferable in the fuel product because chloride is not desirable in the
fuels. Those plants are sophisticated and not suitable for relatively small scale production. In these
plants, catalysts are also used to improve the quality of pyrolysis products in many existing
equipment. Those equipments with catalysts have some weakness in terms of long material
resistance time, undesired contact between plastics and catalysts required high heat transfer rate
and cost of the catalysts.

Pyrolysis varies from other high temperature forms like ignition and hydrolysis. It as a rule does
not include the expansion of different reagents, for example, oxygen (O2, in burning) or water (in
hydrolysis). However, in practice, it is often not practical to achieve a completely oxygen or
water-free conditions, because some amount of oxygen are always present which cause oxidation.

Fig 1.4: Breaking of hydrocarbon chain during pyrolysis

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 Chapter 2
Existing Systems

2.1 Ways of Plastic management

Several initiatives are available to address the environmental side effects of rapidly growing
plastics production, use, and disposal.
• Changes in product design, such as through the use of different materials in the place of
plastics, could reduce the production, use, and disposal of plastics in the first instance. Changes
in design practices, such as through product light-weighting, could also help to prevent the
generation of plastics waste. Shifting towards bio based or biodegradable plastics could reduce
the adverse environmental impacts of plastics more directly by reducing their environmental
footprint.

• Better waste management systems, by facilitating higher waste collection and recycling
rates, would allow waste plastics to be captured before they begin creating problems in the natural
environment.

• Clean up and remediation activities, such as beach clean-ups and technology to collect
plastics from oceans, would allow the removal of plastics already in the natural environment.

Each of these approaches has considerable potential, as well as a set of associated risks and costs.
The use of alternative materials in the place of plastics can reduce the use of plastics, but may
magnify environmental burdens elsewhere. Substituting away from plastics may also negate the
use-phase energy savings (in transport for example) that plastics can bring in the first place.
Shifting to bio-based or biodegradable plastics may also have unintended consequences. In
particular, enhanced biodegradability can increase the dispersion of microplastic fragments in the
environment if degradation is incomplete. Finally, clean up and remediation activities can come
at a significant cost and are unlikely to be effective at addressing microplastic pollution.

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2.2 Advancements in pyrolysis
With many plastic recycling processes focusing on primary and secondary recycling, there is still
a great disparity between the amount of plastic waste and how much is recycled. We must now
turn to other processes that can be used in conjunction with current processes in order to alleviate
the problems associated with the massive amounts of plastic waste being produced. There have
been many academic studies that delineate general strategies for the chemical recycling of
hydrolysable polymers like PET and nonhydrolyzable polymers like polyolefins. These studies
suggest that chemical transformation of waste plastics into value‐added chemicals can be a
convenient avenue to supplement current recycling processes. Industrial efforts to commercialize
chemical recycling processes for plastic waste illuminate more complex issues of separation and
purification associated with real‐world waste streams, from mixed plastic waste to
multicomponent metal–plastic components to full spectrum municipal waste. Despite the
complexity of the problem, by intelligently tailoring catalysts, solvents, temperature stages,
residence times, and initial feedstock, impressive yields of desired products (monomers, gases,
oils, and solids) have been achieved.

Continued efforts need to be focused on catalysts to improve the overall efficiency and lower the
temperature to bring down energy demands of recycling processes. The current state of chemical
recycling of plastic waste shows promise to become one of the main processes in which we can
efficiently reduce the amount of waste in landfills.

Fig 2.1: Plastic waste management

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 Chapter 3
Developed system

3.1 Overview of model

When we thought about making a model on this topic we wanted to do something different which
was never done before. We wanted to make this model a very easy to use and compact
construction. Which will help make it portable and can even be used for converting household
plastic to fuel. We did not intend to make it for large scale operations, which is also possible with
this design and it will take less space compared to other existing plastic recycling factories.

While being compact it can be used in our own houses and we can collect plastic which we use
daily and then once in a while we can make fuel out of it. This un refined fuel can be used for day
to day heating or burning processes, can light a lamp, use it in small stoves incase our LPG
cylinders run out, or we can just donate it to needy people in our town who does not have LPGs
for cooking purposes.

Besides household purposes, if we are to make a large scale version of this model which because
of its ergonomics and slim design can help get rid of plastics of a whole town. Simply a 2 storey
tower like structure will be enough for a town. The plastic which earlier used to take space in
landfills will now be processed in this plant and get converted into useful fuel and other by
products of pyrolysis. This will contribute to the development of town by effectively managing
plastic waste.

Fig 3.1: schematic diagram of pyrolysis converter

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3.2 Design and Ergonomics

Fig 3.2: dimensions of model

The design elements include the main reactor core where the plastic is burned in absence of
oxygen, in this design the reactor drum is of 50 cm diameter and its height is around 75 cm.
The condenser tank is around 40 cm long.
Dimensions of pipe are not yet fixed, and few other parts as well.
The material to be used in this model is copper, stainless steel, some pvc pipes,etc
To make this design compact, the whole assembly of pipes are wrapped around the main chamber.
It is a very unique and fresh design which we have tried.

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3.3 Construction and Working

Fig 3.3: labelled diagram of model

Collection of plastic

The plastic waste is collected from different sources such as household, hotels, market etc. and
separated on the basis of their types. The various types of waste plastic include food containers,
milk covers, water bottles, packaging foams, disposable cups and plates, broken plastic chair,
shopping bags etc. The plastics can be separated as PET, HDPE, LDPE, polypropylene, etc. After
the separation, plastic is cleaned to remove any impurities like dust, dirt, with the help of soap
water. The plastic is then dried in the sun to remove the moisture present and cut into small pieces
of size less than 5cm.
Feeding into reactor

Once the waste plastic is cut into small pieces, the next step is feeding into the reactor. The reactor
is made from mild steel. The flange is opened and plastic pieces are fed into the reactor and the
flange is closed again. It is necessary to prevent any leakage in the reactor. Hence, gasket is
provided for that. However, gasket should be able to subtend high temperature else it will burn
out.

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Fig 3.4: Shredded plastic fed in reactor

Heating

An electric heater which has capacity of 3KW is used to heat the reactor. A Nichrome coil is used
as heating element and power supply is 230V, 50Hz AC. A temperature indicator and controller
are used to record and maintain the required temperature. The heater can increase the temperature
up to 200°C within 15 minutes and the temperature indicator and controller can record
temperature up to maximum of 1200°C.
Condensing

The plastic waste gets evaporated at temperature 250-350°C. This vapour is condensed to
atmospheric temperature by using tube condenser.

Fig 3.5: coil condenser

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Liquid collection
The vapour coming out of condenser is condensed and collected at the liquid collector. The liquid
collector is basically a small tank filled with 3/4th water. The condensed fuel is collected above
the water due to the difference in the density of oil and water. Once the oil stops coming from the
condenser, the oil is collected.
Distillation
Once the fuel is collected, the oil is distilled to increase purity. For this, a sample of oil (about
250ml) is taken in a round bottom flask and heated to about 70°C. The oil starts to boil and the
vapour is condensed and collected in a separate flask. Water is supplied for condensing the
process. Thus, fuel with better property is achieved.

Fig 3.6: pyrolysis oil distillation plant

Testing
The oil sample is finally taken to laboratories for testing its properties like density, calorific value,
flash point, fire point, viscosity, etc. The test is carried out for different samples before coming to
final result.

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3.4 Result and discussion
Catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics using low cost binder-free pelletized bentonite clay has been
investigated to yield pyrolysis oils as drop-in replacements for commercial liquid fuels such as
diesel and gasohol 91. Pyrolysis of four waste plastics, polystyrene, polypropylene, low density
polyethylene and high density polyethylene, was achieved at a bench scale (1 kg per batch) to
produce useful fuel products. Importantly, the addition of binder-free bentonite clay pellets
successfully yielded liquid based fuels with increased calorific values and lower viscosity for all
plastic wastes. This larger scale pyrolysis study demonstrated that use of a catalyst in powder
form can lead to significant pressure drops in the catalyst column, thus slowing the process (more
than 1 hour). Pyrolysis-oil from the catalytic treatment of polystyrene resulted in greater engine
power, comparable engine temperature, and lower carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions, as compared to those of uncatalysed oils and commercial fuel in a gasoline
engine. Pyrolysis-oils from all other polymers demonstrated comparable performance to diesel in
engine power tests. The application of inexpensive and widely available bentonite clay in
pyrolysis could significantly aid in repurposing plastic wastes.

Fig 3.7: comparison between plastic oil, petrol and diesel

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3.5 Costing

ECONOMY OF THE FUEL PRODUCTION:

Cost of 1Kg plastic = Rs 5 Time

taken =1.5 hrs.

Power supplied = 3Kw

Cost of 3Kw of power supplied for 1 hours = Rs 15
So that, cost of 3Kw of power supplied for 1.5 hours = Rs 22.5
Cost of product for producing of 1 ltr = Rs (5+22.5) = Rs 27.5
Market price of plastic oil = Rs 48 per ltr

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 Chapter 4
Conclusion

Plastic bears a major threat to the current scenario and the environment. Millions of tonnes of
plastics are produced on the daily basis and only few percentage of the waste plastic are being
successfully recycled. Since, plastic takes long years to decompose, some alternative to plastic
should be developed. Also, the world is facing the problem of shortage of petroleum.
Therefore, conversion of waste plastic into fuel can provide a better solution to the disposal
problem of waste plastic as well as act as an alternative to fossil fuel. From the experiments and
trials, we also found that by using pyrolysis method we were able to get recover 80-85% oil for
polypropylene plastic (Type-5). However, the output varies depending on the type of plastic used.
Also, the plastic fuel showed properties similar to that of diesel fuel.
Hence, we can conclude that pyrolysis of plastic into fuel can solve both the problem of plastic
waste management as well as shortage of fossil fuel if plant is set up at the commercial level.

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 Chapter 5
Application of project and Future work

1. It can be used as alternate source of fuel in diesel engines.

2. It can be used as a fuel in diesel generators.

3. It can be used for heating in sugar industry, steel industry, etc.

4. It can be used for heating boilers.

5. Products of pyrolysis can be further processed and can be distilled into different
compounds.

6. Additives can be further explored to make the fuel compatible with emission and safety
norms.

7. Various blends can be formed and tested for C.I and S.I engines for their performance and
emissions.

8. Different types of catalysts can be studied to optimize the process of fuel generation and
reduction in fuel requirements with increase yield.

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 Chapter 6
References

1. Brydson, J.A. and ScienceDirect. Plastics materials. 1999 1999; Available from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780750641326

2. Chanda, M., Advanced polymer chemistry : a problem solving guide. 2000, New York [u.a.]:
Marcel Dekker.

3. The Sociaty of the Plastic Industry, I. SPI MATERIAL CONTAINER CODING SYSTEM.
1999 15/Sep/2008]; Available from:
http://www.plasticsindustry.org/outreach/recycling/resincodes.htm.

4. India’s plastic waste situation wasn’t created today. By Rashmi Shrivastav

Published: Wednesday 02 October 2019. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/waste/india-

splastic-waste-situation-wasn-t-created-today-67061

5. Improving Plastics Management: Trends, policy responses, and the role of international
cooperation and trade OECD ENVIRONMENT POLICY PAPER NO. 12
https://www.oecd.org/environment/waste/policy-highlights-improving-plasticsmanagement.pdf

6. Advances and approaches for chemical recycling of plastic waste. By Timmy Thiounn,
Rhett C. Smith. First published: 20 April 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.20190261

7. Project Report On “DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF MACHINE TO CONVERT

PLASTIC INTO OIL AND GASEOUS FUEL PRODUCTION” (SPONSERED BY KSCST)
http://www.kscst.iisc.ernet.in/spp/42_series/41S_awarded_&_selected_projs_further_devpt/4
1S_B_BE_007.pdf

8. Catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste for the production of liquid fuels for engines† Supattra
Budsaereechai,a Andrew J. Hunt b and Yuvarat Ngernyen*a
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/ra/c8ra10058f#!divAbstract

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