Plastic2Oil Converts Waste Plastic to Fuel

A Canadian waste plastic-to-fuel company, John Bordynuik, Inc. (JBI), has developed a process that uses those plastics as a feedstock, and turns them into fuel.

Under the moniker, Plastic2Oil, this alternative fuel company is branding itself as the domestic alternative fuel company that first developed and scaled an original processor that converts difficult-to-recycle waste plastics into separated, refined fuels.

JBI reports it has successfully overcome traditional barriers in this field, including:

• The acceptance of unwashed, mixed waste plastics
• Removal of residue without processor shut down
• Refining of fuel without a high-cost distillation tower
• Equipment that is not susceptible to pinhole leaks
• Emissions are less than a natural gas furnace, while the process releases over 14 percent oxygen into the air

Unlike existing plastic-to-oil operations, JBI accepts all trash plastic, achieving a rate of conversion into clean fuel of almost 90 percent, while requiring minimal external energy (reactor is heated with approximately 8 percent off-gas captured and compressed). All waste plastic is fed through a shredder and a granulator and then heated in a process chamber, after which it proceeds into the main reactor.  JBI reports the system can handle up to 1,800 pounds (816.5 kg) at a time – good news about materials that  traditionally ended up at a landfill.

Source: JBI

In 2009 JBI began developing its Plastic2Oil technology with a laboratory desktop unit.  The laboratory unit was used to perform initial tests on the conversion process and to determine the quality of the fuel product.  Several independent labs verified that the fuel output passed ASTM testing.  JBI continued to test and scale the P2O process by building a one-ton unit.  In December 2009 JBI contracted IsleChem, LLC of Grand Island, NY to assist with chemical, analytical and process engineering.

In April 2010, IsleChem indicated that JBI’s P2O process was repeatable and scalable, concluding that almost 90 percent of the hydrocarbon composition in the plastic feedstock was converted into a “near diesel” fuel (diesel combined with lighter fractions of gasoline).

JBI installed a 20 metric-ton commercial unit in Niagara Falls, New York.  On June 14, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued the permits necessary for JBI’s Niagara Falls three-processor pilot plant to begin operations. The plant, which has a footprint of 1,000 square feet (93 sq. m.), is capable of processing 22 tons of plastic per day, and operates continuously.

The company has indicated it plans on opening up more Plastic2Oil plants. Some of the plants will be managed and owned solely by JBI, while others will be operated as joint ventures.

Gizmag reports that a similar system that uses a fluidized bed reactor to convert non-recyclable plastics into a variety of products, is being developed by the University of Warwick in the UK.

PHOTO: Lexsample & JBI