Synthesis of Petroleum-Based Fuel from Waste Plastics and Performance Analysis in a CI Engine

Abstract

The present work involves the synthesis of a petroleum-based fuel by the catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics. Catalytic pyrolysis involves the degradation of the polymeric materials by heating them in the absence of oxygen and in the presence of a catalyst. In the present study different oil samples are produced using different catalysts under different reaction conditions from waste plastics. The synthesized oil samples are subjected to a parametric study based on the oil yield, selectivity of the oil, fuel properties, and reaction temperature. Depending on the results from the above study, an optimization of the catalyst and reaction conditions was done. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the selected optimized sample was done to find out its chemical composition. Finally, performance analysis of the selected oil sample was carried out on a compression ignition (CI) engine. Polythene bags are selected as the source of waste plastics. The catalysts used for the study include silica, alumina, Y zeolite, barium carbonate, zeolite, and their combinations. The pyrolysis reaction was carried at polymer to catalyst ratio of 10 : 1. The reaction temperature ranges between 400 ∘ C and 550 ∘ C. The inert atmosphere for the pyrolysis was provided by using nitrogen as a carrier gas.

A review on conversion techniques of liquid fuel from waste plastic materials

“…The mechanical efficiency increased with the increase of brake power for WPO and diesel blends; NOx emissions were decreased with the increase of CO emission by increasing engine load. Unburnt HC decreased with the increase of WPO blends . Above 75 volume percentage blends of WPO with diesel reduced the performance characteristics such as torque and power by 23.79% when specific fuel consumption was increased about 31.22% with reduced thermal efficiency up to 5.97% compared with diesel operations .…”

“…Also, the increased concentration of WPO in diesel led to decreased BTE because of higher fuel consumption. Some studies reported that lower BTE was pointed with pure WPO on the diesel engine because of higher viscosity .…”

Mass Balance of Plastic Waste Conversion to Fuel Oil- A case in Uganda

“…Plastics are used in many applications (Bashir, 2013) because of their versatility, light weight and also easy to manufacture (Andrady & Neal, 2009). Plastics are used extensively in automobiles (Gerrard & Kandlikar, 2007;Mazzanti & Zoboli, 2006;Smink, 2007), building and constructions (Cleetus, Thomas, & Varghese, 2013), packaging (Al-Salem, Lettieri, & Baeyens, 2009), bags (Bashir, 2013) and phones (Kasper et al, 2011;Yamane, de Moraes, Espinosa, & Tenório, 2011) and computers (Balakrishnan, Anand, & Chiya, 2007;Guo, Guo, & Xu, 2009;Hall & Williams, 2007). As a consequence, the production of plastics has increased substantially over the last 60 years .…”

“…Fuel oil from waste plastics has a high heating value (Cleetus et al, 2013;Kumar & Singh, 2013 Vol. 10, No.…”

Chemical composition and antifungal activity of sugarcane bagasse and banana stem based wood vinegar

“…Nature of the liqor from pyrolytic process depends on its raw material, such as to produce fuel the raw material comes from plastic waste 11 .The ingredients of wood vinegar also depend on the temperature of the pyrolysis process. Materials such as coal, animal and human waste, food scraps, agriculture waste, paper, hardwood, cardboard, plastics, rubber, and biomass are suitable for pyrolysis 12 .…”