StatusofaNewWastePlasticsRecycleProcessforPowerGeneration

*,RyoukichiYamada,ShuntarouKoyama,MasayoshiKokubo(Hitachi,Ltd.,Japan)Tokunori
Matsushima(HitachiEngineering&ServiceC0.,le.,Japan)AkiraNishida(IPA,Japan)
E~mail:tkanek0@crl.hitachi.co.jp,Fax:+8]
Parametric test on Liquefaction of waste plastics was performed using a 200 kg/h pilot plant. The oil yield
varied with pyrolysis temperature and reached 80 % in the range of 400430DC. The cetane index of
produced oil varied with a polystyrene content in feedstock and a operating condition of a reflux
condenser. Under the combustion performance test using produced oil, a diesel engine ran smoothly and
generated electricity with a high efficiency of 35 %. Exhaust emission characteristics met regulations for
conventionaldieselengines.
Introduction
Much attention has been paid to energy production from waste plastics. We have developed a diesel
power production system using the oil recovered from waste plastics pyrolysis. In this development, we
have focused on the quality of oil and whether it would be able to replace conventional fuel oil or not. The
efficiency of generation and the environmental performance are also of great importance. The 200 kg/h
pilot plant tests have been programmed so as to improve and address those concerns. The present study
shows the results of plastics pyrolysis and oil combustibility as a way to evaluate a new waste plastics
recycleprocess.
RawMaterialsandMethods
Polyethylene(PE),p0]ypr0pylene(PP)andpolystyrene(PS)werechosenasrawmaterials
andweremixeddependingonthetest.
Plastics
Exhaustgas
Fig.1Schematicdiagramofplasticspyrolysisanddieselpowergenerationplant:(ljpyrolysisreactor.(2')caialylic
combustor.condenser.condenser.{5)dechlorinereactor,(6)2ndcondenser.(?)oilseparator.(8)3111condenser,
tank,(10)dieselpowergenerator.

DEGRADATIVEEXTRUSION
Fig.1showstheschematicdiagramofthewasteplasticspyrolysisanddieselpower
generationsystem.Themainfeaturesofthissystemareasfollows
1.Heavycomponentsofthepyrolysisgasareseparatedintherefluxcondenserandare
refluxedintothepyrolysisreactor.
Thisenablestheproducedoiltobecomelighteroil.
2.BothorganicandinorganicchlorideinthepyrolysisgasareremovedbytheCa(OH)2and
activatedA1203packedcolumn.
3.Thecatalyticcombustorheatsthepyrolysisreactoruniformlyandburnstheproducedoil
cleanly.
ResultsandDiscussions
Pvrolvss'scharE
Fig.2showsthetypicaldailystartandstop(DSS)operatingcharacteristicsofthepyrolysisprocess.At
about100kgofplasticswerechargedas
first.
atinitialprovisioninthepyrolysisreactorandthenwereheatedbythe
catalyticcombustor.Whenthepyrolysistemperaturewasnear4000C,additionalmaterialwasfed
continuouslyandthetemperaturewaskeptconstant(acontinuousfeeding
process].Afterthefeedstockwasintroduced,thereactorwasfurther
heatedinordertodecomposethe
remainsinthereactor(adryingprocess).Whenoilproducebecameconstant,the
The
timeforcontinuousfeeddependsonthe
amountoffeedstockthatmustbetreated
combustionfuelwasstopped.
inaday.carriedoutintheaboveprocedure.
Oil,residueandgasyieldsareshowninFig.3.Morethan80%ofoilyieldcanbeobtainedbelow430C.
Fig.4 and 5 show the cetane index (CI) of produced oil. CI defines the ignitability, which is the most
importantpropertyofdieselfuel.AsthePScontentoffeedstockincrease,CIof
producedoildecrease.Comparedto
Thefollowingtestswere
AB
Combustion
Plastic
feedrate
(kgth

Produced
oil
10:0012:0014:0016:00
Timelh)
Fig.2Operatingconditionsandresults:
Acontinuousfeedingprocess,Bdryingprocess
(material:PS2570.PE35070.PF40%).
I811)20100
M
IOil
Residue
390400410420430440450Temperature(0C)
Fig.3Oil.residueandgasyieldsasafunctionofpyrolysistemperature(materialsPS1025%,PE3540
%.PP4045%).

paraffinic oil, both aromatic and olefinic oil have low cetane index [1]. Since most pyrolytic products of PS
are aromatics [2], oil recovered from the PS rich feedstock have low Cl. Fig.5 shows the effect of reflux
temperature on the CI of produced oil. A lower reflux temperature. decreased CI of produced oil. Under
the lower temperature condition, the ratio of heavy fraction refluxed into pyrolysis reactor increase. Since
the most refluxed fraction is decomposed to olefins, CI of produced oil becomes a lower value. CI of 2? or
more is required to ignite the diesel engine smoothly [3]. Generally, oil produced from plastics that contain
more than 25 % of PS is hardly applicable. However, it is possible to improve the C1 by controlling the
refluxtemperaturethatisquiteusefultoapplythewasteplasticswidelyinthisprocess.
30K804560xu..:g.gm.'IP
20'820o520o
00
IO[5202530ISO2002202402602803(1)PScontents(92)Temperature{(1)
Fig.4RelationshipbetweenPScontentsFig.5Effectofrefluxtemperatureonoffeedstockandcelanr:index
ofproductoctaneindexofproductoil(pyrolysistempoil(pyrolysistemp40044500.refluxmil445C,PS
content:1025PEtempZOO282C,PEcontent354093.content:35409%.PPcement4045%1.
PPcontent:4045(5%).
atac.1"flntcrmertir1
Economical production of oil has led to increases for the rate of operation. The DSS
operation as shown in Fig.2 requires a daily drying process. which loses time in the continuous
feeding process. When a large amount of plastics is wasted daily, a D85 operation without the
drying process is more economical. In such a case, the residue is accumulated day by day in
the reactor bottom that seems to influence the controllability and pyrolysis performance of the
reactor. Fig.6 shows the operating characteristics for an I 1 day operation. This operation
contains the initial charge process, 10 days DSS operation without the drying process and drying
process on the final day. The plots in each day show the average value during the continuous
feeding process. In this operation, feeding rate of plastics and pyrolysis temperature were
conducted at 200 kg/h and 400C, respectively. In order to keep the reflux temperature at 260C,
feeding rate and pyrolysis temperature were controlled. Gross oil yield determined by the next
equationincreasedduringthefirst3daysandthenslightlyincreased.
Grossoilyield(Accumulated0i]produced)rAccumulatedplasticsfecded)X100
The amount of residue was measured by its height before starting the daily operation. It also increased
during the first 7' days and remained constant after that. Gross oil yield increased 6 % on the llth day. This
showstheimportanceofthedryingprocessevenforthelong

DEGRADATIVEEXTRUSION
term operation. The oil yield of 80 % is the same level as the results by DSS operation. Through the 11
days operation 6 tons of feedstock was treated. The accumulation of the residue will not affect both the
difficultyoftemperaturecontrolandtheoilyield.
Performanceofdieselengine
Inourprocess,producedoilisg300
providedtothedieselpowergeneratordirectly.Electricpowerefficiency,
Plasticfeedme
(nghJ
whichiscalculatedusingafuelconsumptionrateandageneratedelectric
power,wasachievedabout35%.Thepropertiesofexhaustgasfromthediesel
engine cleared the regulatory standards. They are favorable even when compared with kerosene. The
dieselenginehas
runwithouttroubleformorethanI100h
sofar.Wewillcontinuefurtherte5lto
Productoil
establish{hereliability.
Conclusions
GrossoilyieldAccumuralcd
Forthepurposeofdevelopinga
dieselpowergenerationsystemusingthe
oilproducedfrornwasteplastics~we
carriedoutpyrolysistestsusingthepilot
plantandobtainedthefollowingresults.(1)Oilyieldreached80%whenthepyrolyznsreactor_was
operated1ntheDumionmay)
rangeor4004ooc'IFig.6OperatingcharacteristicsforlIdaysoperation(21(38mmIndexofPruduced01(material:
PS25%,PE35%,PP40em.decreasedwithPScontentsoffeedstock
andincreasedwithrefluxtemperature.
(3)Electricpowerefficiencyofdieselgeneratorusingproducedoilwasabout35The
propertiesofexhaustgasfromthedieselengineclearedtheregulation.
Acknowledgments
ThepilotplanttestswereperformedunderthesponsorshipofCleanJapanCenter.Theauthors
expresstheirgratitudetothemembersoforganizations.
References
l.Tasaka,H.Satou,T."Nainenkikan".p.46,Japan.995
2.Inaba,A.Lnoue,H.Kagakukougakuronbunsyu.5.243249.19793.Kaneko,T.et21].
Trans.IEEoj'Japan,H8C,9,12631269,1998