Waste Plastics Management:

Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals

Recycling & Managing Plastic Waste

May 30, 2015, New Delhi
CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum
Dehradun- 248005

Creating Future F

Creating Future F

Background
CSIR-IIP-GAIL Technology

Todays Reality

Creating Future F

Plastics products have become an integral part of all our

lives, and play an irreplaceable role in our day-to-day

activities.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE LIFE

WITHOUT PLASTICS

Food packaging

Agriculture
Health care

Automotive

House hold
items

Electronics

Waste Plastic disposal problems

Creating Future F

We produce waste having a changed

composition and characteristics as the raw
materials used

We loose our non-renewable natural resources

While disposing, we throw away a lot of

material and energy present in waste

We pollute and poison the environment

Creating Future F

Time for degeneration of waste

Generated Waste
Organic waste
Paper
Cotton Cloth
Wood
Woolen items

Time required for

degeneration
1-2 weeks
10 30 days
2-5 months
10 15 years
1 year

Metals (tin, aluminum etc)

100 500 years

Plastic bags

1 million years ?

Glass bottles

Undetermined

Threat Non biodegradable and hence hazardous

Waste plastics (world scenario)

How big is the plastic problem?

A significant portion of 150

million tonnes ended as landfill
or reached marine environment
Nature, Feb 2013

Great Pacific Ocean Garbage

Patch
A swirling vortex
of garbage the size of a
continent where plastic
outnumbers plankton

Creating Future F

Waste plastics (Indian scenario)

Creating Future F

We are sitting on a plastic time bomb"

the Supreme Court of India

Waste plastics generated as part

of MSW in 60 major cities
~ 15, 500
TPD
ie ~ 56 lakh TPA
Waste plastics added everyday
which lie littered and uncollected
6137 TPD*
*(assuming, 60 % of plastics are recycled

Waste plastics generated in 4

metros (TPD)

Delhi
Mumbai
Kolkata
Chennai

Uncollecte
Total
d and
waste
littered
plastics
waste
generated plastics
689.5
275.5
408
163.2
425.7
170
429.4
171.6

Source CPCB, April 4, 2013, TOI

Creating Future F

Sources of waste plastics

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Waste
plastics
Pre consumer
waste
Production

industry
Process industry

Post consumer
waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW)

Agriculture wastes
Consumer & demolition waste (CDW)
Waste Electric & Electronic
Equipment (WEEE)
End of life of vehicles (ELV)

Creating Future F

Composition of waste plastics from MSW

MSW consists of 7-10 % of waste

plastics by weight

Polyolefins constitute ~ 65 % of
total plastic wastes from MSW

Waste plastics` management

hierarchy
Most
preferred

Least
preferred

Creating Future F

Environme
nt
friendly

Hazardous
to
environme
nt

Disposal of waste plastics

Landfilling
Poisonous compounds leach into the soil and the
water table
Consumes land and renders it useless
Not a permanent solution

Incineration
Causes production of very harmful gas
No useful products obtained

Creating Future F

Recycling of waste plastics

Mechanical Recycling
Recovery of plastic materials
Hazardous to environment

Chemical Recycling
Turns waste plastics into fuels and chemicals by
chemical methods
Potentially feasible solution

Creating Future F

Chemical recycling of waste

plastics

Crude Oil

Naphtha

Ethylene/PP

Chemical
recycling
Post consumer waste

Creating Future F

Virgin plastics

Consumers

Worldwide status of technology

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Number of processes developed world wide

Most of them produce a type of plastic crude oil,

whose environmental impact on use is not known

Require further up gradation to obtain automotive

grade fuel

Some small and medium scale plants are operative

in India and other countries claiming to produce
transportation fuel,
however the available
information indicates that these do not meet
the stringent specifications of automotive
grade fuel

Creating Future F

Background
CSIR-IIP-GAIL Technology

CSIR-IIP- GAIL Technology

Creating Future F

Petrochemicals (500 ml)

(Benzene,Tolune,
Xylenes) + LPG

Gasoline (700
ml)
+ LPG

Diesel (850
ml)
+ LPG
1 Kg waste
(PE+PP)

CSIR-IIP- GAIL Technology

Waste polyolefins to fuel and
aromatics
FEED
(PE/PP)

GAS (C1-C5)

SCREW
FEEDER

PYROLYZER

CATALYTIC
REACTOR

FRACTIONATOR

Catalyst 1
Gasoline2
Catalyst
Diesel
Catalyst 3
Aromatics

Creating Future F

GASOLINE /
DIESEL /
AROMATICS

Process Schematic
RESIDUE

Exclusive production of either gasoline or diesel or aromatics

alongwith LPG from polyolefinic wastes (e.g. HDPE, LDPE, PP etc)
Liquid fuel meet most of Euro III specifications., Aromatics rich in
BTX

Waste plastics unit at IIP

Creating Future F

Designed by CSIR-IIP
Capacity
Batch 3-5 Kg, Continuous 0.3 to 0.4 Kg/hr
Computer controlled (SCADA), Online logging of data
Energy metering

Waste plastics unit at CSIR-IIP

Unit being inaugurated on

26/9/2010 by
Padma
Bhushan Shri Shyam Saran

Creating Future F

Gasoline from waste polyolefins

Properties

Indian
Petrol
Specificatio
ns required
to meet
Euro III
norms

Typical
gasoline
obtained from
waste carry
bags

Density, Kg/m3

710 - 770

730

Recovery upto
70 oC, % vol

10-45

25

Recovery upto
100oC, % vol

40-70

40

Recovery upto
150oC, % vol

75, min

75

210

210

RON/MON

91 min / 81
min

92 / 79

Aromatic

42 max

38

FBP, max
Residue, max;
% vol

Creating Future F

Aromatics from waste polyolefins

Creating Future Fu

Yield of aromatic rich liquid , mass %

41%
Yield of gas
(C1-C5 gas), mass %
59%
Total aromatics
wt)

Benzene
Toluene
Xylenes

1.7 %
14.5 %
9.8%

85% of liquid
( ie 35% of feed by

Diesel from waste polyolefins

Properties

Indian Diesel
Specifications
to meet Euro
III norms

Diesel from
waste plastics

Density @ 15 oC,
Kg/m3

820-845

821

Distillation 95 %
vol at oC, max

360

350

Cetane index

46

51

2.0 4.5

2.2

PAH, max; %
mass

11

Pour Point, oC

(Sum:12/win: 6)

+3

CFPP, oC

(Sum:18/win:6)

+6

35

>70

Viscosity @ 40 oC,
cst

Flash point

Creating Future Fu

Engine test of diesel obtained from

waste plastics
Emissions , g/Km

440 kW Transient Dynamometer

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Engine test of diesel obtained

from waste plastics

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Fuel consumption Km/litre

(Test conditions)

Test car

Advantages of IIP-GAIL
process

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Exclusive production of either gasoline or diesel or

aromatics alongwith LPG in the same set up simply
by changing the catalyst and process parameters
Liquid fuel meeting most of Euro III specifications
Aromatics rich in BTX
Low carbonaceous residue (depends upon the
quality of feed and could be as low as <1 % in the
case of waste without fillers and contaminants)

Approach towards
commercialization

Creating Future F

To set up demo units along with State

Transport Corporations (STC)/Indian railways
etc in diesel mode
Diesel completely consumed by these bulk
consumers
Indian Railways has in principle agreed to set
up plants based on this technology

Technology Development Way

Forward

Creating Future Fue

Commercial plants

Pilot plant/Demo unit

Bench scale
(2009-2012)

Lab scale
(2006-2008)

Being set
up by IIP

Major interested clients

to set up the plants based on IIP
technology

Creating Future F

Indian Railway
Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board
Numaligarh Refinery , Guwahati
Forbes Accounting &business consultant pvt. Ltd.,
Australia
Yugaset (Pty) Ltd., South Africa
GE Global Research-SABIC, Banglore
Dow Chemical International Private Limited, Mumbai
Kamarhatty Company Limited (Paper Division),
Kolkata
Star Group, Satna
Vin Poly Additives Pvt Ltd., New Delhi

Collection of waste plastics (Informal

sector)

Creating Future F

Roadside bins

PET bottles, rubber, metal scarps and

thick PE ( > 40 microns), milk cartons,
used buckets etc are collected from roadside bins

Landfill sites
The remaining MSW reach landfill site and a part
of the remaining plastic wastes are collected

- Sorting

Segregation

Segregated polyethylene

Recognition

Creating Future F

WINNER
3rd National Award for Technology Innovation for 20122013
in the category of
Innovation in Polymer Waste Management and Recycling
Technology
and subcategory of
Academics and R & D Institution
for the innovation in
Technology to convert waste plastics (polyolefins) to
automotive grade fuel and petrochemicals

Media Coverage

Creating Future F

Further innovation

Speciality Products
Waxes (paraffin,MCW),
LOBS, Greases
Waste Plastics

Chemicals
-olefins,
p-xylenes

Creating Future F

Creating Future F

THANK YOU

Managing plastic waste is a major challenge in terms of

environmental protection, but it's also a huge opportunity
for resource efficiency. In a circular economy where high
recycling rates offer solutions to material scarcity, I believe
plastic has a future. I invite all stakeholders to participate
in this process of reflection on how to make plastic part of
the solution rather than the problem.