FINAL YEAR PROJECT PROPSAL

Title
Production of Biofuels from waste plastic

Supervisor
Engr. Ammara Waheed

Group Members
Khawar Hameed UW-16-Ch.E-BSc-010

Kinza Hamid UW-16-Ch.E-BSc-005

Ijaz Ahmed UW-16-Ch.E-BSc-007

Malik Muhammad Saeed UW-16-Ch.E-BSc-006

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

 Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ iv
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Types of Pyrolysis .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Types of pyrolysis reactors............................................................................................................ 2
2 Plastic .................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Waste plastic in Pakistan .............................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Types of Plastics ............................................................................................................................ 4
2.3 Waste plastic disposal ................................................................................................................... 5
3 Objectives.............................................................................................................................................. 6
4 Literature Review .................................................................................................................................. 7
5 Research in Pakistan ............................................................................................................................. 8
6 Production of fuel oil in different countries ......................................................................................... 9
6.1 Plastic pyrolysis plant in India ....................................................................................................... 9
6.2 Plastic pyrolysis plant in Japan ...................................................................................................... 9
7 Methodology....................................................................................................................................... 10
8 Outcomes of the Project ..................................................................................................................... 11
References .................................................................................................................................................. 12

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 List of Figures
Figure 1: Estimated share of global plastic waste by disposal method (Geyer, 2017) ................................. 5
Figure 2: The total annual output of mismanaged waste disposed in oceans by top 20 countries ................ 6
Figure 3: Process flow diagram of pyrolysis .............................................................................................. 11

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 List of Tables
Table 1: Generation of waste plastic in Pakistan per day in tons.................................................................. 3
Table 2: Degradability of different waste materials...................................................................................... 3

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 Abstract
Non-biodegradable plastics and excessive use of fossil fuels have played a major role in
environment pollution. Plastics and petroleum derived products are all hydrocarbons the
difference being that plastics usually have longer chains then petroleum based products,
therefore plastics can be converted to petroleum based products.
The literature review proposes that pyrolysis is completed in three progressive steps initiation,
propagation and termination. Initiation is the breakdown of the large polymeric chains into free
radicals, which are further broken down in to simpler free radicals in propagation. These free
radicals will combine into more stable molecules in termination. Three types of cracking of the
polymers which are random cracking, chain strip cracking and end chain cracking. The major
cracking which occurs in the polymer molecules (poly ethylene and polypropylene) or free
radicals is random chain cracking. In end chain the chain will crack from one end. In Chain strip
cracking the chain will have a reactive functional side group. Chain strip cracking is the
dominant reaction in the pyrolytic cracking of polystyrene. Pyrolysis of polyethylene and
polypropylene can be carried out at 4500 𝐶 and that of polystyrene can be carried out at
3200 𝐶according to the literature.
According to the literature studied the product of the cracking of polyethylene for maximum
diesel range output consists of non-condensable gases, liquid products and some amount of pure
carbon, some zeolite catalysts are also to be tested in the process. The pyrolysis of poly
propylene mostly yields methyl oligomers also non condensable gases, condensable liquids and
char. The pyrolysis of polystyrene yields the same products as that of polyethylene non
condensable gases, liquid products and char.

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1 Introduction
Pyrolysis is a thermal cracking reaction of any organic (carbon-based) product. In this process,
material is exposed to a very high temperature, and in the absence of oxygen produces small
molecular weight molecules. The major factor influencing the pyrolysis process and result are
chemical composition feedstock, operating pressure, cracking temperature and heating rate,
reactor size and type, application of catalyst and residence time [1-4]. The land filling of plastics
has also been one of the old methods to take care of the waste plastic material but due to the
incomplete incineration and high durability of plastics these waste plastic landfills may create
harmful chemicals which will affect the soil and the underground drinking water. Other process
like bioconversion and gasification are also used for organic materials, these process involve
partial or entire oxidation of materials, pyrolysis based on heating under an oxygen free
environment [5].
1.1 Types of Pyrolysis
There are three types of pyrolysis slow pyrolysis, Flash and fast pyrolysis.
 Slow pyrolysis
Slow pyrolysis is characterized by lengthy gas and solids residence time, slow biomass heating
rates and low temperature. Slow pyrolysis is an art whose origins can be traced to when man
made fire. During slow pyrolysis, char and tar are released as main products as the biomass is
slowly devolatilized. It has been used to produce charcoal for use as fuel and it maximizes
charcoal yield. The heating temperature ranges from 0.1 to 2.0ºCper second and prevailing
temperature are nearly 500ºC.
 Flash pyrolysis
Flash pyrolysis occurs at rapid heating rates and moderate temperatures between 400 to 600ºC.
The vapor residence time of this process is less than 2s.This pyrolysis produce less amount of tar
and gas when compared to slow pyrolysis.
 Fast pyrolysis
Fast pyrolysis is currently most of the interest. Fast pyrolysis maximizes liquid production rather
than charcoal. Fast pyrolysis involves higher temperatures and rapid heating rates than other
pyrolysis and it does not release heat which is endothermic. During the fast pyrolysis, biomass is
rapidly heated to temperatures of 650 to 1000ºC depends on the desired amount of product.

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1.2 Types of pyrolysis reactors
There are a numbers of pyrolysis reactors. Pyrolysis is a precursor to gasification and also
combustion; so therefore, the reactor used for gasification can also often be used for pyrolysis.
The following are the some reactors used in pyrolysis process:
 Bubbling Fluidized Bed Pyrolyzers
Bubbling fluidized bed pyrolyzers are simple to design and construct compared with other
reactor designs. They also have a large heat storage capacity, have good gas-to-solids contact,
good heat transfer characteristics, and excellent temperature control. The residence time of
vapors and solids are controlled by fluidizing gas flow rate. Char acts as a catalyst in cracking
vapors during the pyrolysis reactor. Char is finally collected by an entrainment processes.
 Circulating Fluidized Bed Pyrolyzers:
Circulating fluidized bed pyrolyzers have similar characteristic as that of bubbling bed reactor
but have shorter residence time for vapors and chars. Due to shorter residence time encountered
in the reactor result in higher gas velocities, faster char and vapors. These have excellent gas-
solid contact, potential to deal with cohesive solids and high processing capacity.
 Rotating Cone Pyrolysis Reactor
In a rotating cone pyrolysis reactor at room temperature biomass particles and hot sand are put
near the bottom of a cone at the same time. With the help of rotation they are mixed and
transported upwards. The pressures of outgoing materials are above atmospheric levels. Short
gas phase residence time and rapid heating can be easily achieved in rotating cone pyrolysis
reactor.

2 Plastic
Alexander Parks in 1862 invented a high molecular weight material which became to be known
as plastics. This discovery made the manufacture of many impossible or expensive materials
possible and economic, also as the plastics were able to be molded in to any shape the made the
manufacture of materials almost to easy. Any or all natural sources that were on the verge of
scarcity and could be replaced by plastics were replaced.[6]

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2.1 Waste plastic in Pakistan
In Pakistan, each year, 30 million tons of solid waste is produced, out of which nine percent are
plastics. Here, 55 billion plastic bags a year are produced. These single-use non-biodegradable
bags mostly find their way to open garbage dumps, landfill sites or municipal sewers, thus
making sewage disposal systems less efficient by choking, thus adding to the costs of utility
operations. Current urban waste management practices are partners to this crisis, since they only
focus on picking waste from communal bins and disposing of it in urban fringes without
segregation, material recovery or recycling, and also by not making communities act responsibly.
They are spending as much as Rs. 3000-6000 per ton without any business model to recover
costs.
Table 1: Generation of waste plastic in Pakistan per day in tons

City Population in millions Solid waste generation

per day in tons
Karachi 20,500,000 9,900
Lahore 10,000,000 7,510
Faisalabad 7,500,000 4,900
Rawalpindi 5,900,000 4,400
Hyderabad 5,500,000 3,880
Multan 5,200,000 3,600
Gujranwala 4,800,000 3,400
Sargodha 4,500,000 3,000
Peshawar 2,900,000 2,000
Quetta 600,000 700

Table 2: Degradability of different waste materials

Types of litter Time of degradation
Organic wastes, paper, etc. 1-3weeks
Cotton Cloth 8-20weeks
Wood 10-15years
Tin. Aluminum, etc. 100-500years
Plastics A million years??

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2.2 Types of Plastics
The society of plastic industry (SPI) define a resin identification code system that identity
different types of plastics [7]
The following seven (7) groups based on the applications and chemical structure
 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
Polyethylene Terephthalate is strong and light. It is safe and toxic. known as the clear
plastic used for water & soda bottle containers it is non-reactive economical & shatter
proof. A member of the polyester a family of polymers. PET bottles are safe to be used
repeatedly. Avoid re-using any bottle that has be scratched inside, since bacteria can
become lodged in scratches. PET is stable, inert material that doesn’t biological or
chemically degrade with use, and resistant to attack by micro-organisms.
 High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
High-Density Polyethylene products are safe and are not known to transmit any
chemicals into foods or drinks. HDPE products commonly recycled. Items made form
plastic include motor oil, shampoo, milk box, bleaches etc. it is not safe to use again.
 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Polyvinyl chloride some time recycled. PVC is used for pipes and tiles. But mostly it is
used in plumbing pipes. That kind of plastic should not come in contact of food items. It
can be harmful if ingested.
 Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
Low-Density Polyethylene some time recycled. It is very healthy plastic tends to be both
durable and flexible. Item such as sandwich bag, grocery bag, squeezable bags are made
from LDPE.
 Polypropylene (PP)
Polypropylene is occasionally recycled. PP is very strong and it can with stand on high
temperature. That kind of plastic we used to make lunch boxes, yogurt port, syrup bottles,
plastic bottle caps, prescription bottles.
 Polystyrene (PS)
Polystyrene is commonly recycled. But it is difficult to do. That kind of plastic we made
disposable coffee cups, plastic food boxes, plastic cutlery and packing foam are made
from Polystyrene.

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  Other
Other plastic including acrylic, polycarbonate, polyactic fiber, nylon glass. These type of
plastic included in this category. These types of plastic are difficult to recycle.
Polycarbonate is used in baby bottles, compact disc and medical storage containers.
2.3 Waste plastic disposal
They are different methods for waste plastic disposal that are;
 Landfilling
 Incineration
 Recycling
 Biodegradation
All plastics can be disposed in landfills. However, landfilling is considered highly wasteful as it
requires a vast amount of space and the chemical constituents and energy contained in plastic is
lost (wasted) in this disposal route.

Figure 1: Estimated share of global plastic waste by disposal method (Geyer, 2017)

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3 Objectives
We want to address the problem being faced by the world on a massive scale which is pollution
due to the presence of these non-biodegradable plastics, these polymer based products are
immune to corrosion and decomposition and there is no natural way to decompose them. Plastic
pollution has been identified as a global problem to the marine environment; these plastic wastes
are the most persistent contaminants to the marine life as the non-degradable plastics stay around
for quiet long periods of time. Mismanagement of plastic dumps (plastics that are dumped
openly) enter the environment via inland waterways, waste water outflows and wind and tides.

Figure 2: The total annual output of mismanaged waste disposed in oceans by top 20 countries
Most of the chemicals used in plastic making are from that of non-renewable crude oil and are
hazardous. Using plastics as a source to produce renewable energy resource is like killing two
birds with one stone. The pyrolysis of plastics to produce wide range of diesel products not only
works on protection of the environment from such plastic waste pollution but, it will also address
the energy crisis which is being faced by the world. Our reserves of fossil fuels are limited and
will surely come to an end one day that is why we have to resort to renewable energy resources.

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4 Literature Review
1. Title: Pyrolysis of waste plastic in to fuel and other products.
Authors: B. Chiwara, E. Makhura *G. Danha, S. Bhero, E. Muzenda, P.Aagachi
Source: Research gate
The rate of biodegradation of plastics is said to be very slow and also its kinetics show that as
almost it is not occurring at all. This degradation plastic is possible through thermodynamically
processes. The pigments in plastics and the plastics themselves can be broken down by acid
leachates under harsh conditions of temperature and pressure and produce a number of diesel
range products which can be utilized by mankind for its needs
Their research was to design and implement a plastic solid waste recycling facility that could
convert the plastic products into chemical products. This pyrolysis oil was said to be further
upgraded into its different fractions as fuels. The aim was to successfully counter the plastic sold
waste disposal problem as well as addressing the landfill problems.
The pyrolysis of the plastics was carried out using Fischer tropsh process. In the FT process the
carbonaceous material was converted into syn gas and this syn gas was later processed into
higher chain hydrocarbons which include petrol, diesel and paraffin’s
2. Title: Pyrolysis a method for mixed polymer recycling
Authors: Matthew Johnson
Source: Green manufacturing initiative
In 2007 it was found that 260 million tons/yr of plastics were being produced, which are
normally discarded after a single use This number is increasing at a rate of 5% per year.
Approximately 60% of this plastic solid waste will be sent for landfills. These landfills will cause
toxic chemicals to seep into the soil and the underground drinking water which will cause health
hazards.
The European Union had already mandated that in 2020 all the plastics will be sent to either
thermal or mechanical processing plants and no more plastics will be sent to landfills. The
anhydrous pyrolysis of the mixed polymers will produce light chain hydrocarbons for alternative
uses. These light chain crude can be reprocessed into virgin polymer feedstock, light chain
hydrocarbon fuels and methyl esters (biodiesel) after addition of a process catalyst.

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 3. Further by Aguado et al, Schiers and Kaminsky, and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) have shown that the 4 methods are effective in the recycling of
plastic solid waste
 fast pyrolysis to produce a synthetic crude oil:
 liquid-phase catalytic depolymerisation to produce a synthetic diesel grade fuel;
 gasification and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis to produce a synthetic diesel grade
fuel; and
 gasification and fermentation to produce fuel-grade ethanol

5 Research in Pakistan
The Punjab Environment Tribunal had already declared the Pyrolysis as “Green Technology” in
pursuance of “BASEL CONVENTION 2011” of which Government of Pakistan was also a signatory.
Revised Technical Guidelines for the Environmentally Sound Management of Used and Waste Pneumatic
Tyres were formulated under the said Basel Convention. Besides, the process of Pyrolysis is recognized
as one of the only three environmentally suitable processes by the Basel Convention, held under the
aegis of UNEP. Moreover the import of tyres for the purpose of pyrolysis gasoline is neither prohibited in
terms of Import Policy Order 2016 nor is there any restriction under any other law including Petroleum
Act, 1934 read with Petroleum Rules, 1937 or under Pakistan Petroleum (Refining, Blending and
Marketing) Rules, 1971. Moreover, OGRA has recognized the pyrolysis oil as a fuel vides its letter No.
OGRA-OIL-19(9)/2006 dated 24-7-2013. That it is also a well-established law, by way of Judicial Order,
which was subsequently reported in 2015 CLD 1079, that the Pyrolysis Plants support sustainability and
are considered to be environmentally sound and socially responsible having a long term community
value and they help reduce waste problem by converting waste into material resources and energy. The
material and energy produced by these projects can be utilized and made available for the coming
generations. These projects also reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and help the Global
movement to solve the climate crisis.

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6 Production of fuel oil in different countries
Having been in the field of plastic recycling for 17 years, Beston Machinery has exported plastic
pyrolysis plants to more than 20 countries, including India, America, Nigeria, Jordan, Thailand,
South Africa, Britain, the United States etc.
6.1 Plastic pyrolysis plant in India
The plastic pyrolysis plant in India adopts the advanced pyrolysis technology, which can convert
plastic waste into fuel oil and carbon black under the condition of high temperature catalytic
heating. Both of the end-products are useful resources. The plastic oil can be used as industrial
fuel materials for burning, or further refined to diesel or gasoline. The carbon black can be used
for construction bricks with clay or used as fuel. There is also a little combustible gas producing
in the process, the gas can be recycled to heat the reactor as fuel, which will save energy for the
whole working process.
6.2 Plastic pyrolysis plant in Japan
Japan has more challenges than almost any other country being a small, densely populated island
bound nation with few natural resources, but a huge demand for energy and commodities. The
approximate 127 million residents and large industrial base place a huge burden on the country
to provide sustainable solutions to its waste management problems. Innovative and efficient
technologies were needed on a massive scale that would not only solve the waste disposal issue,
but provide a partial solution to the countries need for energy and raw materials.

Japan has pursued a strategy of recovering the maximum amount of value from its waste as
possible and since the 1970's over 1,500 wastes to energy and resource recovery facilities have
been established. With ten million tons a year of plastic waste being produced and having the
highest calorific value of any waste stream, this oil rich material was an obvious target for
recycling. However, recycling companies now have to pay heavily to secure the best polyolefin
feedstock’s (PP, PS & PP -- The 3P's) forcing some of the smaller recyclers out of business. The
challenge in this situation is to process the plastic wastes that others find difficult to recycle or
has little commercial value. Last year 2,750,000 tons of this material had to be landfilled or
incinerated due to a lack of re-processing capacity.

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7 Methodology
Waste plastic collected from different sources was gathered and sorted according to types and
were made ready processing. The first step was the removal of dust from plastic to remove an
impurities and improving quality of products. Before processing the plastic size has to be
reduced for which the plastics are grinded. After grinding the plastic is ready for pyrolysis. The
addition of a specific catalyst is optional such as zeolites and bentonite calcium, which can speed
up the process and reduce the energy cost. We will be using fast pyrolysis as our main process
for the conversion of the plastics to oil. Pyrolysis will occur at 400-600 degree Celsius and well
produce vapors of the lower chain hydrocarbons which is the crude oil. The vapors of the crude
oil is sent to the heat exchanger for cooling the vapors,. The synthetic crude is then sent for
fractional distillation and will be distributed in to different fractions which include a wide range
of diesel products
The following block flow diagram represents the methodology used for the pyrolysis of waste plastic into
crude

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 Figure 3: Process flow diagram of pyrolysis

8 Outcomes of the Project

The outcomes of the project will be less pollution due to plastic in the future. All the toxic gases which
are produced due to the combustion of plastics, which include dioxins and furans are the cause of many
diseases will be prevented. The cost to the environment and the human life by almost 60% of the
produced plastic in the world which is sent for landfills and is constantly polluting the underground
drinking water is causing health hazards will be put to a stop. Furthermore the pyrolysis oil can be used
as a fuel and will serve in the production of more energy.

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 References
1. Regnier, N. Analysis by pyrolysis/gas chromatography spectrometry of glass fiber/vinyl
ester thermal degradation products. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 1995.

2. P.T. William sand Williams, E.A., Analysis of products derived from the fast pyrolysis of
plastic waste. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis Proceedings of the 1996
12thInternational Symposium on Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, Oct 14-18 1996.

3. E. Slaney and Williams, P.T., Analysis of products from the pyrolysis and liquefaction of
single plastics and waste plastic mixtures. Conservation and Recycling, 2007.

4. Karaduman, A., et al., Flash pyrolysis of polystyrene wastes in a free-fall reactor under
vacuum. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 2001.

5. Pyrolysis of municipal plastic wastes for recovery of gasoline-range hydrocarbons by

Demirbas, A, 2004.

6. Brydson, J.A. and ScienceDirect. Plastics materials. 1999 1999;

7. The Society of the Plastic Industry, I. SPI MATERIAL CONTAINER CODING

SYSTEM. 1999 15/Sep/2008]:

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