Inventor turns plastic waste into liquid fuel скачать в хорошем качестве

Inventor turns plastic waste into liquid fuel

(7 Nov 2016) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4063795 LEAD IN: An Indian inventor believes he has the solution to two of his country's biggest problems: huge amounts of plastic waste and a shortage of affordable fuels. The scientist says he's found a way of turning plastic waste into cheap liquid fuel. But some experts are warning the process is not as simple as it looks. STORY-LINE: Sreejith Veettil Sreedharan is filling up his motorbike with fuel. But instead of petrol or gasoline, it's a liquid fuel that he's made himself, out of old plastic. Sreedharan is a scientist and inventor who lives in Kodungallur in the southern Indian state of Kerala. He claims that using a simple technology based on pyrolysis - using heat to cause the decomposition of complex molecules - he can convert plastic into cheap liquid fuel. The scale of what Sreedharan is experimenting with may be small, but the potential is huge. Plastic waste is a major health and environmental problem in India. More than 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste are generated in the country every day, of which 6,000 tonnes are never collected, according to the Indian Environment Ministry. Sreedharan is the director of Kodungallur's Science Centre, an organistion that promotes science and technology among students. He has set up a small prototype plant at the Science Centre, which has the capacity to deal with just five kilograms of plastic waste at a time. Pyrolysis thermochemically decomposes organic material at high temperatures. "Plastic is heated to 300 to 400 degrees Centigrade in the absence of oxygen," explains Sreedharan. "This is the important part of the process. When heated it turns into liquid form. Sometimes certain catalysts will have to be added depending on the nature and quality of the plastic." After turning to liquid the product is heated until it takes a gaseous form. This is then condensed so that some of the molecules become liquid again: "The liquefied material is somewhat like crude oil and through fractional distillation petrol can be extracted. Either tar or a grease like substance remains as the by-product," adds Sreedharan. Sreedharan claims nearly 900 millilitres of liquid fuel can be extracted out of one kilogram of plastic waste and can be further refined if needed. The inventor also claims that the fuel produced from plastic trash is non-polluting. His motorbike, which runs on the distilled fuel, passed the emissions test that other vehicles are subjected to. Many consumers have shown willingness to try Sreedharan's fuel and say they feel it is no different from using petrol or diesel . "At first I had certain doubts so I asked one of my friends for a trial. He tried and found it good. Now I am also using this occasionally. No problem, it is as good as the petrol we use," says motorcycle owner Vinoj Kovilparambil Vijayan. While the results are promising, the process of distilling fuel from plastic waste is not without problems. Shyamji Chembangode, a researcher working with Sreedharan, says variation in temperatures and impurities in plastic waste can impact the process of decomposition and distillation. "The problem is if we cannot maintain a constant temperature the output would be negative. Then the question of purity… plastic is the basic raw material, PVC (synthetic material) cannot be used. If there is impurity it affects the performance as a whole," he says. Others caution against calling the liquid fuel 'petrol' without further research on different types of engines. And, he adds, it will be cost effective too: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...