Alchemical news: converting plastic into petrol

[mke]

I just saw a TV show about this. The article below is kind of muddled, but it's all I could find.

Petrol from plastic? Nagpur holds the secret

Amidst local fight over forgery, oil giants queue for scientist’s partnership

VIVEK DESHPANDE
Posted online: Sunday, June 08, 2003 at 0000 hours IST



NAGPUR, JUNE 7: To those of us who have given up fretting over petrol prices rising and rising, this chemical engineer’s claim sounds just unbelievable.

From the low profile labs of Nagpur’s Raisoni College of Engineering, Alka Zadgaonkar, head of the Department of Applied Chemistry, insists she holds the key to converting plastic waste into petrol — 25 lakh litres per day. Production cost: Rs 7 per litre.

Heard that before?

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‘‘I thought if her claim was true, it could solve the global problem of plastic disposal. Naik sent an expert team to Nagpur to take samples. I also raised the issue in Parliament and met Kalam,’’ Pradhan told The Indian Express.

Demos were arranged for Naik, an IOC team led by executive director Sobhan Ghosh and three chief research managers at Faridabad on March 5 and 6, with 11 litres of petrol produced.

IOC’s report confirms that waste plastic is fully converted into fuels and value-added products through the technique. IOC is happy that petrol thus produced contains .02 pc sulphur, compared to 0.25 to 0.1 pc in regular fuels. The only disadvantage is high olefins and diene contents, which, the IOC report says, can be eliminated by known methods.

Dean of Research & Development at IIT, Mumbai, Professor K C Khilar felt that it is an ‘‘interesting development’’ if the facts portrayed were true. Professor V A Juvekar, also from the Chemical Engineering department of the IIT, said: ‘‘In theory, it is possible to make petrol from plastic because it contains the same hydrocarbon chain of molecules as found in gasolene. So it is a much more easier process than making petrol out of water!’’ [Note: water-, or rather, hydrogen-powered engines already exist]

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‘‘We can use any waste plastic recycled any number of times,’’ says Alka, who’s patent application has been published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The secret formula: Shredded plastic waste — free of oxygen — is heated with coal and a secret chemical. The products include 80 pc fuel range liquids, 5 pc coke and 15 pc LPG range gases. One kilo plastic and 100 gm coal churn out 1 litre of fuel, which contains the gasoline range. More processing, and Alka claims it yields refined petrol.

The Zadgaonkar couple have demonstrated this technique at Delhi, Mumbai (for CM Sushilkumar Shinde) and Pune. Umesh has more ideas: ‘‘Municipal bodies can clean up cities by starting petrol units and provide fuel to employees, instead of paying conveyance allowance.’’

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