Plastics to Power: Producing Fuel
Team Members Heading link
- Zainab Ahmed
- Sihang Chen
- Ariel Maret
- Allison Nordvall
- Peter Starakiewicz
Advisor: Patrick Shannon
Project Description Heading link
Due to the large demand for plastic, the consumption of various plastics has reached approximately 419 million tons in 2019. The World Bank reported that the proportion of plastic waste occupied in overall municipal solid waste all around the world has been nearly 8-12%. Additionally, China has announced a ban on importing plastic waste, which has led to changes in plastic waste management in the US. If not addressed, the abundance of plastic will cause issues for the environment and current recycling facilities. There are various methods to reuse plastic waste. Current methods include recycling into new plastic, fabric, and plastic roads. However, each has its own drawbacks. We have chosen to develop a plant that turns high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic waste into gasoline, a valuable commodity. The designed pilot plant uses 50 metric tons of HDPE and produces approximately 374 barrels of gasoline per day. In addition to plant design, this process has been analyzed from an environmental, safety, and economic perspective.
See supporting documentation in the team’s Box drive.