Hemmed in by strong oceanic currents forming a ‘gyre’, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a stretch of relatively still water in which plastic waste gathers, floating just under the surface. Estimates of its extent vary from Hawaii-sized right up to twice the size of the United States. The ambiguity arises from complications in the sampling process and definitions of the problem area. Definitions are typically based on ‘above normal’ levels of pollution – although there is some sadness in acknowledging any level of pollution as normal, with the potential association that normal is therefore acceptable. The problem is also somewhat counter-intuitive; larger matter like bottles and containers are broken down by photo-degradation, due to exposure to the ultraviolet light found in sunlight. You might think this would help to dissolve the plastic but in reality, this only cuts down the size of the particles. The plastic, once broken down into millimetre-sized pieces can then take hundreds of years to decompose. Meanwhile, at the millimeter scale, the plastic is unfortunately perfectly sized and placed to find its way into the bodies of animals as diverse as Jellyfish, Sea Turtles, and Albatross. Often the plastic particles wash up on shore and ruin picturesque landscapes while causing a hazard to native wildlife.
Aside from ecological concerns, there are other serious issues facing the global community. In particular, the world economy is predominantly driven by crude oil, which is rapidly running out. Some estimates predict as little as 40 years of oil remaining. Wouldn’t it be great if we could solve both problems of ocean pollution and oil depletion with one sweeping motion? Project Kaisei seems to think so.
This non-profit organization is focused on the research of marine debris, particularly in the Pacific ocean. One of their long-term goals is to create technology to ‘harvest’ the waste plastic from the ocean so that it can one day become a useful resource. The idea of waste plastic as a resource could serve as a vital incentive to the world’s industry captains to clean up the seas.
First the recyclate is collected together in bales and sent to the central processing plant. There it is ground into small flakes, approximately 15 mm in diameter. Now the plastic must be transformed from a heap of flakes into a consistent fluid melt for processing at later stages. In practice this is achieved with an extruder, a machine fed by a hopper of plastic flakes that drives material through a heated screw mechanism. It is at this point that our testing machines come in to play. To achieve optimum efficiency and quality of product, the ground recyclate must be adequately tested so that the best extrusion conditions can be determined. This is particularly true in the recycling industry where the raw material can vary significantly in composition. The CEAST Series of Melt Flow Testers are well positioned to deliver this testing. Ranging from basic budget models all the way up to advanced, automated premium variants, our machines are easy to use and conform to the main international melt flow standards.
Once the material is melted, it is pumped by the extruder into the Pyrolysis chamber. Pyrolysis is a process of breaking down the long chain hydrocarbons into small constituent molecules similar to the raw crude oil from which the plastics were made. In order to do this, the polymers are heated at temperatures of up to 420° in the absence of Oxygen to prevent burning. The primary product of this process is a high-quality diesel fuel. Cynar produces 800 liters of diesel per ton of recycled plastic and even uses gases harvested from the process to power the process. The ‘synthetic’ diesel produced burns more ‘cleanly’ than regular diesel with a much better rate of emission production.
Could we see waste differently in the future? Could today’s eye-sores and environmental disasters be tomorrow’s gold-mines? Only time will tell.
Aside from ecological concerns, there are other serious issues facing the global community. In particular, the world economy is predominantly driven by crude oil, which is rapidly running out. Some estimates predict as little as 40 years of oil remaining. Wouldn’t it be great if we could solve both problems of ocean pollution and oil depletion with one sweeping motion? Project Kaisei seems to think so.
This non-profit organization is focused on the research of marine debris, particularly in the Pacific ocean. One of their long-term goals is to create technology to ‘harvest’ the waste plastic from the ocean so that it can one day become a useful resource. The idea of waste plastic as a resource could serve as a vital incentive to the world’s industry captains to clean up the seas.
First the recyclate is collected together in bales and sent to the central processing plant. There it is ground into small flakes, approximately 15 mm in diameter. Now the plastic must be transformed from a heap of flakes into a consistent fluid melt for processing at later stages. In practice this is achieved with an extruder, a machine fed by a hopper of plastic flakes that drives material through a heated screw mechanism. It is at this point that our testing machines come in to play. To achieve optimum efficiency and quality of product, the ground recyclate must be adequately tested so that the best extrusion conditions can be determined. This is particularly true in the recycling industry where the raw material can vary significantly in composition. The CEAST Series of Melt Flow Testers are well positioned to deliver this testing. Ranging from basic budget models all the way up to advanced, automated premium variants, our machines are easy to use and conform to the main international melt flow standards.
Once the material is melted, it is pumped by the extruder into the Pyrolysis chamber. Pyrolysis is a process of breaking down the long chain hydrocarbons into small constituent molecules similar to the raw crude oil from which the plastics were made. In order to do this, the polymers are heated at temperatures of up to 420° in the absence of Oxygen to prevent burning. The primary product of this process is a high-quality diesel fuel. Cynar produces 800 liters of diesel per ton of recycled plastic and even uses gases harvested from the process to power the process. The ‘synthetic’ diesel produced burns more ‘cleanly’ than regular diesel with a much better rate of emission production.
Could we see waste differently in the future? Could today’s eye-sores and environmental disasters be tomorrow’s gold-mines? Only time will tell.
1 comment:
The equipment has reasonable design and advanced manufacturing technologies and a high automation degree and complete safety facilities.
Plastic Pyrolysis Process Machinery
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