Scientists have found a way to convert plastic waste into aviation fuel. A research team led by Lei Hanwu, an associate professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering at Washington State University, melted plastic waste with activated carbon at high temperatures to produce aviation fuel. According to recent statistics from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 million tons of plastic were collected in U.S. landfills in 2015. Since January 1, 2018, China has stopped accepting plastic from the United States and Canada for recycling and has banned the import of 24 types of solid waste, including low-density polyethylene (HDPE) used in plastic bottles. China has historically processed at least half of the world's total exports of waste paper, metals, and used plastics, amounting to 7.3 million tons in 2016. Scientists conservatively estimate that at least 4.8 million tons of plastic now enter the ocean annually worldwide. In their experiment, Lei Hanwu and his team tested low-density polyethylene. They mixed various waste plastics, such as water bottles, milk bottles, and plastic bags, and ground them into rice-grain-sized pieces. Next, the plastic pellets are placed in a tubular reactor at a temperature ranging from 430\u00b0C to 571\u00b0C, with activated carbon placed underneath. Carbon acts as a catalyst, accelerating the chemical reaction without being consumed by it. \"Plastics are difficult to break down, so a catalyst must be added to help break the chemical bonds. Plastics contain a large amount of hydrogen, a key component in fuels,\" said Lei Hanwu. Once the carbon catalyst has completed its task, it can be separated and reused for the next batch of waste plastic. The catalyst can also be regenerated after it loses its activity. Testing different temperatures and combinations of several different catalysts yielded a mixture of 85% aviation fuel and 15% diesel fuel. \"We can recover almost 100% of the energy from the tested plastics, the fuel quality is very good, and the byproduct gas quality is also high, making it practical,\" the results were published in the journal *Applied Energy*. Lei Hanwu said that this process is easily scalable and can be operated in large factories or farms, allowing farmers to produce diesel fuel from plastic waste themselves. \"The final product must be separated to produce aviation fuel; otherwise, it becomes diesel fuel.\" Lei Hanwu's research team developed an environmentally friendly catalyst that can reduce costs and improve the efficiency of biofuel aviation, winning a $500,000 grant last year from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Researchers used enzymes and corn stalks, corn harvest residues, or Douglas fir wood chips to produce a green catalyst called nanocrystalline cellulose. This catalyst produces cycloalkane naphtha, a key component of aviation fuel. \"To reduce energy and hydrogen requirements and improve the performance of biofuel production catalysts, we designed a new catalyst that utilizes environmentally friendly natural molecules. These rod-shaped nanocrystals can be obtained from any agricultural or forestry waste,\" said Lei Hanwu. Lei Hanwu's research team converts waste plastic into diesel or aviation fuel. Image credit: Washington State University. Source: TEIA (2019\/06\/12)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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