A PROPOSAL

ON
WASTE PLASTIC FUEL USED IN PETROL ENGINE

Submitted By:
Durga Thapa (PAS075BAM017)
Lucky Pandey (PAS075BAM022)
Manish Dhakal (PAS075BAM024)
Manoj Bohara (PAS075BAM025)
Nishab Basnet (PAS075BAM029)

Under the supervision of

…………………………

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING

IOE- PASHCHIMANCHAL CAMPUS
LAMACHAUR, POKHARA
 SUMMARY

Plastics have woven their way into our daily lives and now pose a tremendous threat to the
environment. The used products have become a common feature at overflowing bins and
landfills. Though work has been done to make futuristic biodegradable plastics, there have
not been many conclusive steps towards cleaning up the existing problem. Here, the process
of converting waste plastic into value added fuels is explained as a viable solution for
recycling of plastics.

Thus, two universal problems such as problems of waste plastic and problems of fuel
shortage are being tackled simultaneously. In this study, plastic wastes were used for the
pyrolysis to get fuel oil that has the same physical properties as the fuels like petrol. Pyrolysis
runs without oxygen and in high temperature of about 300°C which is why a reactor was
fabricated to provide the required temperature for the reaction. The waste plastics are
subjected to depolymerization, pyrolysis, thermal cracking and distillation to obtain different
value-added fuels such as petrol, kerosene, and diesel, lube oil etc. Converting waste plastics
into fuel hold great promise for both the environmental and economic scenarios.
 Table of contents

Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ............................................................................................................. 2
1.2 Statement of problem .............................................................................................. 3
1.3 Objectives of project ............................................................................................... 3
2 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 4
3 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 6
3.1 Pyrolysis process for conversion of waste plastic into fuel .................................... 6
3.2 Working mechanism ............................................................................................... 6
3.3 Testing the properties of crude oil .......................................................................... 7
3.4 Distillation of crude oil into petrol ......................................................................... 7
3.5 Testing of petrol engine using plastic fuel .............................................................. 8
3.6 Material specification ............................................................................................. 8
3.6.1 Petrol engine .................................................................................................... 8
3.6.2 Pyrolysis reactor .............................................................................................. 8
3.6.3 Connecting pipe ............................................................................................... 8
3.6.4 Condenser pipe ................................................................................................ 8
3.6.5 Collector tank .................................................................................................. 8
3.6.6 Heater .............................................................................................................. 8
3.6.7 Tachometer ...................................................................................................... 8
3.6.8 Thermometer ................................................................................................... 8
3.6.9 Exhaust gas analyzer ....................................................................................... 8
4 DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES................................................................................. 10
4.1 Phase I (Concept development) ............................................................................ 10
4.2 Phase II (testing of available pyrolysis equipment) .............................................. 10
4.3 Phase III (analysis of properties of crude oil) ....................................................... 10
4.4 Phase IV (Testing of petrol engine) ...................................................................... 10
4.5 Flowchart .............................................................................................................. 11
5 COST MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 13
6 EXPECTED OUTCOMES.......................................................................................... 14
7 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 15
8 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 16

List of figures
Figure 1:plastic waste ............................................................................................................ 1
Figure 2:working mechanism ................................................................................................ 6
Figure 3:Factional Distillation ............................................................................................... 7
Figure 4:Flow chart ............................................................................................................. 11
Figure 5:Gantt chart ............................................................................................................. 12
Figure 6:Cost Management ................................................................................................. 13

List of abbreviation
MSW: Municipal solid waste

PET: Polyethylene terephthalate

HDPE: High-density polyethylene

PVC: Polyvinyl chloride

LDPE: Low-density polyethylene

PP: Polypropylene

PS: Polystyrene

CO: Carbon monoxide

 1 INTRODUCTION
Plastics are an integral part of our modern life and are used in almost all daily activities.
Since plastics are synthesized from non-renewable sources and are generally not
biodegradable, waste plastics are the cause of many of the serious environmental problems
the world faces today. However, waste plastics can become a source of enormous energy
with the correct treatment. In recent years, huge amounts of waste plastic are available in
municipal solid waste (MSW) and many places. Since the 1970s, the rate of plastic
production has grown faster than that of any other material. If historic growth trends
continue, global production of primary plastic is forecasted to reach 1,100 million tons by
2050[1].

Various type of plastic waste are produced nowadays. Established technology can convert
waste plastics into a renewable source of hydrocarbon fuel. This technology plans to acquire
waste plastics from City / Local Municipalities and Recycling Facilities. For plastic fuel
production purposes, the plastics can be collected as commingled or separated into different
categories. Another source of large amounts of waste plastic is floating on our oceans and
seriously damaging the ecosystem and the environment.

Figure 1:plastic waste

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1.1 Background
Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became
a name for a category of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of many
parts,” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules. Polymers abound in nature.
Cellulose, the material that makes up the cell walls of plants, is a very common natural
polymer.

Over the last century and a half human have learned how to make synthetic polymers,
sometimes using natural substances like cellulose, but more often using the plentiful carbon
atoms provided by petroleum and other fossil fuels. Synthetic polymers are made up of long
chains of atoms, arranged in repeating units, often much longer than those found in nature.
It is the length of these chains, and the patterns in which they are arrayed, that make polymers
strong, lightweight, and flexible. In other words, it’s what makes them so plastic.

These properties make synthetic polymers exceptionally useful, and since we learned how
to create and manipulate them, polymers have become an essential part of our lives.
Especially over the last 50 years plastics have saturated our world and changed the way that
we live.

Mainly there are two types of plastics: thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics.
Thermoplastics are those which can be softened and melted repeatedly when enough heat is
supplied. On cooling, they are hardened, so that they can be made into new plastics products.
Examples are polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, etc. They can be recycled.
Thermosetting plastics can be melted and shaped only once. It is not good to heat such
plastics repeatedly. Examples are phenol formaldehyde, epoxy resin, urea formaldehyde, etc.

Kathmandu alone uses around 4,700,000 to 4,800,000 plastic bags daily. In Nepal, 16
percent of urban waste is comprised of plastic, which is 2.7 tons of daily plastic garbage
production. And this is just Kathmandu. When you look at the global level the data is
staggering. Researchers claim humans have produced 9.1 billion tons of plastic so far, and
much of it ends up in nature—causing harm to both living beings and the environment [2].

Besides the sheer quantity of plastic waste being produced, one of the major problems with
plastic is its resistance to degradation. A conservative estimate puts the average time for one

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single plastic bag to completely biodegrade at 500 years. This means that not only most of
the plastic we use during our lives will outlive us, but that our plastic footprint also will
affect the generations to come. A huge amount of plastic finds its way into river systems,
and eventually into the global ocean ecology.

The plastic is categorized into following along with its international numbering:

i. PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)

ii. HDPE (high-density polyethylene)
iii. PVC (polyvinyl chloride)
iv. LDPE (low-density polyethylene)
v. PP (polypropylene)
vi. PS (polystyrene)

1.2 Statement of problem

In today’s world the demand for plastic is increasing day by day which can create a
tremendous threat to human health as well as the environment. Statistics show that
approximately 10% of this plastic is recycled, 25% is incinerated and the remaining 65% is
dumped in landfills. In Nepal, 16% of urban waste is plastic, which is 2.7 tons of daily plastic
garbage collection. It is believed that humans have produced 9.1 billion tons of plastic so
far, and much of it ends up in nature causing harm to both living beings and the environment
[3]. Today transportation and electric power generation in rural areas mostly depend on fossil
fuels. Such extensive use of fossil fuel is resulting in depleting it at an alarming rate. Hence,
it is required to produce an alternative fuel to keep them running as well as minimizing waste
disposal. Waste plastic pyrolysis oil is identified one of such good alternatives. In this study,
waste transparent plastic, used for packaging, plastic bottles are used for the conversion of
fuel through pyrolysis process and followed by distillation of crude oil to get gasoline.

1.3 Objectives of project

i. To extract crude oil from waste plastic.
ii. To compare properties of crude oil with petrol.
iii. To extract petrol by distillation of crude oil and comparing with properties of petrol
available in market
iv. To study effect on petrol engine performance and exhaust due to plastic fuel.
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 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Increasing plastic waste has become a sensitive issue that needs to be addressed. Conversion
of plastic waste into crude oil can be the solution to this. Both wastes can be reduced, with
fuel as a product to fulfill some of the growing energy demand.

i. The paper titled “Design of Viable Machine to Convert Waste Plastic into Mixed Oil
for Domestic Purpose” by Yasha Shukla, Hemant Singh, Shiwangi Sonkar and
Deepak Kumar [4] states in the abstract that the aim of the article is to provide a more
efficient design of machine to convert waste plastic into mixed oil for domestic
purpose. In this machine daily domestic waste like polyethene, polypropylene or
normal plastic carrying bags are converted to oil. This machine employs a closed
container (stainless steel), temperature controlling electric heater and layers of
insulating materials, these materials make the machine more efficient and safer for
use. For an effective pyrolysis process the temperature of a stainless-steel container
(full of waste plastics) is raised by a temperature controlling electric heater and for
the condensation process, water at room temperature is employed.
ii. A paper titled “production of fuel through waste plastic and polythene and used in
four stroke petrol engines as fuel “by Vikas Mukhraiya, Raj Kumar Yadav, Brajesh
raikawar [5] states in the abstract that in this waste material of high-density polythene
and low density polyethene’s converted into recycled fuel by pouring in the close
combustion chamber, then by heating the close combustion chamber in temperature
range of 110 to300 degree Celsius for approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Afterwards we observed that waste material is converted into fuel. Then this fuel is
used in four stroke petrol engine and we observed that 8ml fuel run bike of 110 cc
Bajaj caliver for approx. 2 minutes. Also, we calculate different properties of this
fuel namely viscosity, density, specific gravity, flash point, fire point, cloud point, or
pour point. then we compare these properties of this fuel with petrol fuel. It gives
similar properties like petrol fuel.

Outcomes of literature review:

i. All types of waste plastics can be converted into hydrocarbon fuel in the temperature
range of 250-300oc by the pyrolysis process.

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ii. Fuel obtained from the process shows nearly the same properties as that of diesel and
petrol. So, we can use plastic fuel as alternative fuel.

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 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Pyrolysis process for conversion of waste plastic into fuel
Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of organic substances by heating the word is
originally coined from the Greek-derived elements pyro "fire" and lysis "decomposition".
Pyrolysis is usually the first chemical reaction that occurs in the burning of many solid
organic fuels, cloth, like wood, and paper, and also of some kinds of plastic. Anhydrous
Pyrolysis process can also be used to produce liquid fuel similar to diesel from plastic waste.
Pyrolysis technology is thermal degradation process in the absence of oxygen. Plastic waste
is treated in a cylindrical reactor at temperature of 250ºc – 300ºc. The heating source will be
external and the fuel was condensed over the water. As a result of which the heat loss was
maximum leading to low fuel conversion efficiency. Also, the fuel condensed over the water
needs to get distilled to remove water. In this project we are using an electric heater as the
source of heat enclosed in the insulator which reduces the heat loss and increases the
efficiency. Similarly, instead of condensing the fuel over the water condenser pipe will be
used inside which the water is flowing in order to condense the fuel into the collector tank.

3.2 Working mechanism

Figure 2:working mechanism

Plastics that are cut into the small pieces are washed, dried and fed into the pyrolysis reactor.
Inside the pyrolysis reactor the heater is placed. By means of high temperature outside the
reactor vacuum is created inside the reactor. The process is carried out between the

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temperature range of 250-300℃ outside the reactor for about 2 hours. The product of
pyrolysis is in the form of vapor which is sent to a water-cooled condenser and the condensed
liquid is obtained as a fuel. Fuel obtained is in the crude form.

3.3 Testing the properties of crude oil

The most commonly measured properties of crude oil are density, viscosity, color, flash point
and fire point. Then, compare these properties with the properties of petrol.

3.4 Distillation of crude oil into petrol

If properties of crude oil do not match with properties of petrol, then fractional distillation
of crude oil will be carried out to obtain the petrol.

Figure 3:Fractional Distillation

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3.5 Testing of petrol engine using plastic fuel
Plastic fuel will be tested in petrol engine. The engine performance and exhaust will be
tested.

3.6 Material specification

3.6.1 Petrol engine
It is required to observe the engine performance under the plastic fuel.
3.6.2 Pyrolysis reactor
The fundamental task of all fast pyrolysis reactors is to heat up the incoming plastic to the
desired temperature and transport the solids with a specified residence time while
maintaining inert conditions, i.e., avoiding leakage of air into the system.

3.6.3 Connecting pipe

It is the galvanized iron used to connect the reactor to the condenser
3.6.4 Condenser pipe
The condenser pipe is placed between the pipe coming out from the reactor and the pipe
reaching the collector tank inside which the water is flowing. It is made up of galvanized
iron (zinc and metal coating).

3.6.5 Collector tank

It is used to collect the condensed fluid coming from the condenser. It is made up of plastic.

3.6.6 Heater
It is used to heat the reactor for the pyrolysis process. Heater coil is made up of Nichrome
wire (Ni-80%, Cr-20%).

3.6.7 Tachometer
A tachometer is an instrument designed to measure the rotation speed of a shaft or disk.
Tachometers generally measure rotations per minute (RPM).

3.6.8 Thermometer
It is used to measure the temperature of pyrolysis reactor.

3.6.9 Exhaust gas analyzer

It is used to measure the CO content in the exhaust.

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3.6.10 Dynamometer
Dynamometer, device for measuring mechanical force, or power, transmitted by a rotating
shaft. Since power is the product of torque (turning force) and angular speed, all power-
measuring dynamometers are essentially torque-measuring devices; the shaft speed is
measured separately.

3.6.11 Test tube

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 4 DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
This project will be completed in four stages as listed in the summary which is described
below:

4.1 Phase I (Concept development)

i. Detailed study of the plastic wastes and its adverse effects to both the living beings
and environment.
ii. Brainstorming to analyze and finalize the ideas needed for the project.
This phase is expected to take 20-30 days to complete and it is one of the crucial phases in
the starting of the project.

4.2 Phase II (testing of available pyrolysis equipment)

i. Replacing worn out and non-functioning components.
ii. Production of crude oil using pyrolysis equipment.
This phase should be completed within the 1 and a half month time allocated for it. The
design and analysis process will affect the final model to be fabricated

4.3 Phase III (analysis of properties of crude oil)

i. Measuring the properties of crude oil.
ii. Comparing obtained properties with the properties of petrol.
iii. Distillation of crude oil if the properties of crude oil is not in the range of petrol.
This phase is expected to complete in a month. It will provide a working model of the
intended machine.
4.4 Phase IV (Testing of petrol engine)
i. Testing the plastic fuel in the petrol engine.
ii. Testing the sound, exhaust and efficiency using plastic fuel.
iii. Comparing the engine performance using both plastic fuel obtained and petrol.
This phase will test and improve the design model and is expected to take 15-20 days’ time
span.

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4.5 Flowchart

Figure 4:Flow chart

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Figure 5:Gantt chart

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 5 COST MANAGEMENT
The first two phases of the project will not take any budget other than a few purchases of
books and data and software needed for the project and is not included in the tables shown
below. These two phases only involved the discussion and design in computers which budget
will be taken from the miscellaneous header if needed.

The last two phases will involve working and buying of materials needed for the preparation
of models. So, the estimated budget costs are shown in figure 6:

Figure 6:Cost Management

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 6 EXPECTED OUTCOMES
This project will result in conversion of plastic wastes to fuel. The main work will be focused
on the production of fuel suitable for petrol engine from plastics. And using the fuel in petrol
engine which can be used as an alternative for petrol and reduces the rising petrol crisis.

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 7 CONCLUSION
Plastics bears a measure threat to the ocean and the land ecology. Millions of plastics are
produced on a daily basis. By converting the waste plastic into fuel by pyrolysis process
followed by distillation helps on plastic waste management as well as the shortage of fuel if
the plant is set up at the commercial level.

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 8 REFERENCES

[1] “Visual Feature: Beat Plastic Pollution.” UNEP, https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-

plasticpollution/#:~:text=Since%20the%201970s%2C%20the%20rate,1%2C100%20
million%20tonnes%20by%202050.

[2] MOLDEN, DAVID. “A Plastic World.” ICIMOD, 5 June 2018,

[3] Julliand, Valerie. “A Plastic World.” The Kathmandu Post, The Kathmandu Post,
https://kathmandupost.com/opinion/2018/06/05/a-plastic-world.

[4] Shukla, Yasha, et al. “Design of Viable Machine to Convert Waste Plastic into Mixed
Oil for Domestic Purpose”, International Journal of Engineering Research and
Development, Volume 12, Issue 4, April 2016, pp.09-14.

[5] Vikas Mukhraiya, Raj Kumar Yadav and Brajesh raikawar, Production of Fuel through
Waste Plastic and Polythene and Used in Four Stroke Petrol Engine as A Fuel. International
Journal of Advanced Researching Engineering and Technology, 6(12), 2015, pp. 12-15.

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