Operating Features of ThermoFuel

The system is safe, efficient, easy to operate and highly economical.

Safety

ThermoFuel operates under normal pressure, it is fully computer controlled and has numerous operating safety features built in as part of the design.

Maintenance

Coking occurs in the chamber when the pyrolysis of the waste plastics is almost complete. However, ThermoFuel is designed to minimise coking by stabilising
heat conductivity within the pyrolysis chamber. The chamber requires cleaning every second process, and takes just 30 minutes.

Back to Top

Pre-Treatment

Generally, input feedstock plastics do not require washing or sorting.

The plastics can be shredded and/or granulated prior to being fed through a melt-infeed system into the chamber so almost any shape or size of waste plastics can be handled.

Pollution

At Cynar, we are extremely conscious of potential air pollution through the operation of any of our waste treatment systems.

ThermoFuel produces extremely low level of emissions, due to the capture of almost all of the output, both liquids and gases, inside the system.

The ThermoFuel process is designed to meet all EU legislation.

Noise or vibration

The system has very few moving parts, and accordingly there is no excessive
noise or vibration.

Back to Top

Foreign matters

Foreign matters such as soil, sand or papers are often adherent matters attached to waste plastics. Our system is designed to cope with these foreign materials up to approximately 10% by weight or volume.

Pyrolysis Gas

Pyrolysis of plastics tends to occur on irregular basis hence the carbon chain lengths of the pyrolytic gases vary between 1-25. Most of the gas is liquefied in the condensers but some remains as gas. Hydrocarbons with carbon count of 4 and lower remain as a gas under room temperature.

This high calorific gas contains contains methane, ethane, propane, butane, etc. Although volume of the gas differentiates depending upon the types of the plastics, it is generally just 2-5%. This gas is reused to heat the Pyrolysis chamber.

Back to Top

Product yield and characteristics:

Plastics are separated into oil, gas and char residue by pyrolysis. Recovery ratio and characteristics of the product distillate differs depending on the types of plastics or decomposing temperature and is discussed in detail below.

As a rule of thumb, approximately 950ml of oil can be recovered from 1kg of plastics such as Polyolefins including Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), or polystyrene (PS).

Plastics Suitability for Treatment

Although not suitable, the process can nevertheless tolerate small quantities (less than 5%) of plastics containing heteroatoms. Heteroatoms are atoms other than carbon and hydrogen such as chlorine, sulphur and nitrogen.

Examples of such plastics include PVC, nylon, polyurethanes and rubbers. Since heteroatoms are heavier than the light elements such as carbon and hydrogen these increase the density of the plastic. This can be used as a guide to which plastics are suitable for ThermoFuel. A rough rule of thumb is to take a representative sample of the flaked waste plastic and add it to a jar of water. If more plastic floats than sinks then the plastic scrap is acceptable feedstock for ThermoFuel. The floatable fraction represents mainly polyolefins (that is polyethylene and polypropylene) and expanded polystyrene. Polyolefins give the best yield of distillate due to their straightchain
hydrocarbon structure.

Polystyrene is beneficial in the mix since it contributes aromatic character to the distillate and improves the pour point properties (that is, the lowtemperature viscosity properties).

Back to Top

Plastics Suitability for Treatment

ThermoFuel can process commingled and miscellaneous waste plastics such as:

1. plastic packaging scrap from material recovery/sorting facilities
2. oil and detergent bottles
3. off-cuts/trimming from nappy production,
4. mulch film and silage wrap,
5. mixed post-consumer plastics,
6. caps/labels/rejected bottles from bottle recycling operations,
7. commercial stretch and shrink wrap.

Plastics from Kerbside

Plastics recovered from kerbside collection of recyclables are generally an ideal feedstock for ThermoFuel. However, given the appreciable market value of PET these are generally sorted and removed first.

The mixed, commingled plastics that remain after desirable value plastics have been recovered, can be processed easily by ThermoFuel.

If the plastic is sorted from MSW there is no need to identify plastics by type for it to be used in a ThermoFuel process. It is only necessary to separate the commingled plastic stream away from the general waste stream.

Contamination such as organic matter or paper dried on the plastic can be tolerated.

Agricultural Plastics

Mulch and silage film is mainly polyethylene-based but may be contaminated with up to 15% of soil. This level of contamination is no problem for the ThermoFuel system. The soil and dirt simply acts as an inert filler and exits the process in the char/coke stream. Other suitable agricultural plastics are used plastic pipes, used herbicide and other chemical containers,
greenhouse film, trickle tape and dripper tube.

Back to Top

Commercial Shrink and Stretch Wrap

Pallet wrap and shrink/stretch wrap is based on low and linear-low density polyethylenes and makes ideal feedstock for ThermoFuel. Large quantities of these films are collected in the commercial field and due to their tacky nature they collect dirt/dust which makes other recycling methods difficult. In the ThermoFuel process such films give very high yields of distillate.

Multilayer Films and Laminates

Multilayer plastic films and packaging are difficult to mechanically recycle due to the presence of dissimilar polymers and metals that are often adhesively bonded. This makes mechanical recycling uneconomical. ThermoFuel, on the other hand, can handle such stream without difficulty since aluminium laminates are not volatile and simply end up in the solid char stream. Only the plastics are pyrolised.

The Char Stream

The carbonaceous char forms in the chamber during pyrolysis. The char residue produced is generally about 5% of the output for relatively clean polyolefin feedstocks. Since the char passes acid leaching tests it can simply be landfilled. Inorganic additives such as cadmium pigments from the plastics end up in the char stream. The carbon matrix has a metal 'fixing' effect and binds up
the metal ions so that no leaching occurs after disposal.

Back to Top

Energy Requirements

The chamber is heated by natural gas if and where available, or by using fuel or gas produced by the process itself.

Output Fuel Properties

The typical mass balance for one tonne of mixed polyolefin plastic entering the process is approximately 90% hydrocarbon distillate, 5% char, as well as 5% gaseous material known as non-condensable gases. However, because a litre of distillate weighs just .82 kilograms, the actual yield of volume to weight can be higher depending on the feedstock types.

The non-condensable gas from the ThermoFuel plant is passed through a water scrubber and then fed into the natural gas flow for the burner, which heats the unit so there are no net hydrocarbon emissions.

The hydrocarbon fraction in turn comprises approximately 75% distillate cut and 25% paraffin material. The paraffin fraction is continuously cracked after the first condenser until it reaches the desired chain-length range and then added to the primary fuel stream.

A comparison of the distillate produced from a commingled plastic mix compared with regular synthetic fuel has been conducted by gas chromatography, and shows good similarity between fuels.

Uses. synthetic fuel (distillate) is principally a blend of hydrocarbon compounds called middle distillates that are heavier than gasoline but lighter than lubricating oil. It is not a 'pure' compound but a cocktail of straight-chain and branched alkanes, cyclic saturated hydrocarbons and aromatics.

Distillate is designed to operate in a synthetic engine where it is injected into the compressed, high-temperature air in the combustion chamber and ignites spontaneously. This of course differs from petrol which is ignited in the engine by spark plugs.

Blending. ThermoFuel synthetic is blended from batch-to-batch to ensure homogeneity.

Cetane. A key indicator of synthetic fuel is the Cetane Number which is analogous to the octane rating for petrol. Cetane is a measure of the ease with which the fuel is ignited in an engine and is most significant in relation to lowtemperature startability, warm-up, and smooth, even combustion. Distillates with a higher cetane rating show increased power and superior performance characteristics.

Ideal synthetic fuel will have a high proportion of hydrocarbon chains that are 16 carbon atoms long. Hydrocarbon chains of length C16 are known as hexadecane which is the proper chemical name for cetane.

ThermoFuel produced synthetic fuel has a cetane number in the range of 57, similar to or higher conventional synthetic fuel, which averages 51-54. Most engine manufacturers recommend synthetic fuels with a cetane number of at least 50.

ThermoFuel produced synthetic fuel has a cetane number in the range of 57, similar to or higher conventional synthetic fuel, which averages 51-54. Most engine manufacturers recommend synthetic fuels with a cetane number of at least 50

Emissions. Fuels produced from 100% clean plastic feedstocks will reflect extremely low sulphur levels, generally under 10 ppm compared to current Australian and general international requirements of < 35 - 50 ppm. It is important however, to recognise that certain contaminants will deliver trace amounts of sulphur into the system.

Back to Top

There are two types of sulphurs in potential contaminants, organic and in-organic, both of which can be removed within the ThermoFuel system process.

Your Cynar Plc agent or representative can work through these areas with you.

Lubricity. Finally, it is important to emphasise that ThermoFuel fuel is extremely high in lubricity.

In synthetic engines some components, including fuel pumps and injectors, are lubricated by the fuel, so good lubricity is key element in reducing wear on these parts.

Summary

ThermoFuel is a truly sustainable waste solution, diverting plastic waste from landfills, utilising the embodied energy content of plastics and producing a highly usable commodity that, due to its cleaner burning characteristics, is in itself more environmentally friendly than conventional distillate.

Back to Top

For further information on your ThermoFuel needs,
Contact Cynar Click Here