DUHOK POLYTECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

PETROCHEMICAL DEPARTMENT

Recycling of poly ethylene

terephthalate(PET)

by
LINA ABAS, DANAZ QADR, TARA AHMAD, RANKO NAWZAD, PASHEW PIROT
Under SUPERADVISER : MR.ALARQAM Z. Tareq
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Contents
� Aim
� Recycling of plastic
� Classification of Recyling
� Chemical Recycling (Tertiary Recycling)
� Hydrolysis
� Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
� Terephthalic acid (TA)
� Materials & optimum conditions
� Design the unit reactor
� Conclusion
 Aim
3
The aim of this project is recovery of terephthalic
acid from PET waste bottles. This process has been
done in two stages.
• At the first stage, reaction between PET waste
and sodium hydroxide in non-aqueous solution
(ethylene glycol as a solvent) for production of
sodium terephthalate solution carried out in a
stainless-steel mix reactor.
4 At the second stage, reaction between
produced sodium terephthalate and
hydrochloric acid led to terephthalic acid
production. Some important parameters such as
operating temperature, time and quantity of
consuming sodium hydroxide, ethylene glycol
and hydrochloric acid have been studied
5 Recycling of Plastic
What is Plastic Recycling ?

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering

different types of plastic material in order to
reprocess them into varied other products.
An item made out of plastic is recycled into
a different product, which usually cannot
be recycled again.
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� Plastics make up a huge amount of our solid waste

� Plastic takes ages to break down

� Plastic pollution is a major problem

� Recycled plastics can be put to good use

� Plastic recycling conserves energy and the

environment
 Classification of Recycling
7
� Primary recycling: involves the use of pre-conumer
industrial scrap and salvage.

� Secodary recycling: involves physical reprocessing

for example grinding ,melting and reforming.

� Tertiray recycling: involves subjecting waste PET to

chemical treatment whereby its componets are
isolated and reprocessed for use in manufacture.

� Quaternary recycling: in which the energy containt

of the plastic waste can be recovered by
inceneration.
8
 Hydrolysis
9 � Is a method of PET waste recycleing in which PET is
reacted with water in acid ,basic or natural
condition leading to complete depolymerization to
obtain its monomers ethylene glycol and Terphtalic
acid.

Alkaline hydrolysis
� Alkaline hydrolysis of PET waste is usually carried out
using NaOH or KOH to get the corresponding
terephthalate salt, which on acidification gives
monomer TPA(Fig.2.2). The process generally runs
for 3-5 h at temperature of 210-250 °C, under
pressure of 1.4-2 MPa (Alter, 1986).
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 Polyethelene Terephthalate
11 (PET)
What is Polyethylene Terephthalate ?
� PET is a clear, strong, and lightweight plastic that
is widely used for packaging foods and
beverages.

Composition of PET

� The basic building blocks of PET are ethylene

glycol and terephthalic acid which are
combined to form a polymer chain.
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Properties of PET
� High clearity

� Good chemical restistance

� Stregth to weight ratio

� Shatterproof

� Medium scratch restistance

� Food contact safety

� Temperature tolerance of -50 F degree to 110

degree F
 The advantages of Polyethlene
13 Terephtalate ?
� Polyethlyne terephtalate is easy recycled .it
can be resued by conducting a series of
washing processes or broken down into its
constituents.

� Polyethylene terephthalate is readily

available and relatively inexpensive.

� Polyethylene terephthalate has excellent

chemical resistance to organic material and
water .
 Synthesis of Polyethelne
14 Theraphtalate
 Terephthalic acid (TA)
15

� Terephthalic acid is an important raw material

for the production of polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) terephthalic acid (p-TA or
TA), a raw material for polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) production, is one of the
most important chemicals in petrochemical
industry
 Physical and chemical properties
16

Chemical formula C8H6O4

Molecular weight 166.13 g/mol

Apperance White crystals or powwder

Density 1.522g/cm^3

Price 30$ per 5Kg (from Sigma-Aldrich

Company)
 Materials & Optimum
17 Conditions
Material:
1. Ethylene Glycol (Mono) as a solvent
2. NaoH (g)
3. PET waste bottoles (g)
4. HCL (ml)
5. Water (ml)
Optimum Conditions:
� Time (15 min) at boil.
� Temperature : (185-190)°c
� Yield: Pure T.A ( 97%)
� Stirring
 Design the unit reactor
18
 Conclusion
19
� PET is the most widely recycled plastic on earth

� It can be recycled numerous times.

� Conservation of raw materials - reduces the need for

virgin petrochemical feedstock.

� The benefit of our project leads to get higher yield (%)

by using ethylene glycol instead of water with
increasing temperature which also leads to less time for
completion.

� Ethylene glycol can be recovered for re use by boling of

the water.