Renewable Energy Innovations

4Recycling of Plastic Waste into Transportation Fuels and Value-Added Products

Shashank Pal and Shyam Pandey*

Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Energy Acres, Bidholi, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Rapid industrialization and the growing population necessitate an enormous amount of energy in daily life; therefore, an energy crisis and environmental destruction problems are arising rapidly. Solid waste, like plastic bottles and supermarket bags, take thousands of years to degrade by natural phenomena. In addition, disposal options for plastic such as landfill, reuse, and incineration pose serious health and environmental problems.

Therefore, it becomes necessary to manage the waste plastic and protect nature from harm. The pyrolysis process is the most effective and emerging technology that empowers the nation by reducing the spread of plastic waste in nature and protecting the environment. This chapter reviews the pyrolysis techniques for liquid fuel hydrocarbon production. In addition, the fuel properties of plastic hydrocarbon fuel and application feasibility is also discussed here.

Keywords: Waste plastic, reactor, pyrolysis process, catalyst, transportation

4.1 Introduction

The word “plastic” was derived from the word “plastics,” which means “to form” in Greek. Non-renewable energy sources have compounds containing hydrogen and carbon (hydrocarbon) which serve as building blocks for long polymer ...