Our Project. |
The whole idea of our project is to be a proof of concept for a low-budget, high-yield pyrolysis process. We don't want to make any money off of it as of now, or even make a bunch of fuel. What we want to do is prove that our machine and this chemical process have that capacity. Then, if we are successful, we want to pursue it in our higher education in order to put something great into motion in America. But turning plastic to oil takes more than just a Saturday and some spare time. We've broken the whole thing down into a few steps. We'll go through them as best we can before any major research or prototyping.
It starts with a whole lot of paper...
This period of time will run from September to mid-October. We want to have a technical and detailed prototype drawing, the necessary tools, and all resources allocated during this time. Our drawings and prototype plans will be released in all their iterations to keep our donors up to date.
Transitions to metal...
After our plans and resources are thoroughly researched, we'll order what we need to begin and get to work. Our prototype will likely be about the size of a twin bed, with the different components spaced apart on a base plate for stability and safety. Speaking of components, our rig will include such amenities as: a reactor chamber equipped with electric heating elements, and a series of condensation chambers. As uncomplicated as this may sound, the actual amount of work and materials put into each component, as well as what it takes to connect the two, will be extremely costly. For example, the reactor will be warmed by electric heaters which we must attach to the reactor in safe, efficient locations with external insulation and absolutely no mobility. The reactor must also be provided with a constant stream of non-reactive gas to carry what we want out of it without the chance of combustion or contamination. Mechanical challenges like this will likely require time and money to solve, pushing our expected finish date to early February, or later.
Continues to plastic...
Once the reactor is done, we will start on our experiment cycles. Using research from reference experiments, we have figured out our temperatures and catalysts for our pyrolytic reactions. Speaking of which, let's talk about pyrolysis. Based on Greek root words for "fire" and "separate," it's a process that requires both high temperatures and chemical aids to split larger chains of molecules into their smaller components. In our case, we want to split the polymers of petroleum-based plastics into their base hydrocarbons. These are the usable substances that make up products like gasoline and diesel. Therefore, we will combine shredded, washed plastic and rare-earth Y zeolite (the catalyst) in our chamber while nitrogen gas is injected in a steady stream and the chamber is heated to roughly 400 degrees Celsius. The plastic will melt, boil, and vaporize, following the nitrogen flow through our condensation chambers. Within these water-cooled chambers, the vapor will reduce its temperature and collect within water containers at the bottom of the stacks. To ensure as much product is collected within the system as possible, there may be up to three separate condensation chambers. The now-crude-oil will be collected, strained, and separated for refining into diesel and gasoline. Fractional distilling will likely be our chosen method for collection of the two fuels, however a safer alternative might be revealed in conversation with mentors and research.
And ends with a moped.
To incontrovertibly prove this process as viable, our end goal is to be able to run a moped or other low-power vehicle on nothing but our gasoline by April 25th. This means we need enough gasoline to start and sustain an engine, if only long enough to go 100 feet. We want to be able to show off our success to the school on our field day, when all our students are allowed to take pride in all their hard work throughout the year and enjoy a day of fun. The most fun that we could have this year would easily be to watch a small, under-powered motorcycle travel reliably on our recycled plastic gasoline.