Turning an Environmental Problem to an Opportunity Siamak Elyasi, PhD, PEng Assistant Professor, Lakehead University Lakehead chapter of the Professional Engineers Ontario Technology Conference November, 2016
Outlook • Who am I? • Why is there a problem for the environment? • Which opportunities are there? • How can we materialize the opportunities? • What is the conclusion? 2
My Background and Experiences? I love to think, design, and build Bachelor in Chemical Engineering (Iran) • Master of science in Biotechnology (Iran) • I am an Engineer Master of science in Environmental (Sweden) • PhD in Chemical Engineering (Canada) • More than 15 years engineering experience • Safeguarding Public and Environment Seven years research in Canada • Five years teaching (Lakehead University) • ……………………………………………………………….. • 3
Environmental Problem(s) WASTE PLASTICS - Not degradable in environment - Converting to small piece after a few years - Potential Migration - Risk for Aquatic Creatures - Landfill problem (thousands of years) - Leachate of harmful chemical - Land is not usable for many years 4
Best Permanent Solution • Reduce, Reduce, Reduce • Replace with biodegradable plastics • Reuse/recycle 5
Total Solid Waste (Residential/Non-Residential) Canada, Ontario (2006-2014) 30,000,000 25,000,000 Metric Tonne 20,000,000 15,000,000 Canada Ontario 10,000,000 5,000,000 0 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 Year Total Solid Waste Per Capita (2014) : Canada 706 kg/year Ontario 670 kg/year 6 (Ontario + Quebec 60% of total plastic waste in Canada)
Composition of Total Solid Waste Canada (2008) Metric Tons/year 1% Total waste Produced = 25,000,000 Plastics = 4% Newspaper 16% Waste Plastics = 1,000,000 26% Added Value (processing) Organics 10 cent/kg Added Value (processing) 100,000,000 $/year 19% Cardboard 9% Construction 9% 2% 5% 3% 3% 0% Mixed paper 4% Plastic 1% 2% Glass 7
Opportunity? Chemical Composition of Plastics Hydrogen + Carbon Hydrocarbons 𝒐 Polyethylene Cutting (Cracking) Motor Oil Kerosene Gasoline 8
How is Plastic Waste Managed? Plastic Waste Recycle/Reuse Landfill (65-70%) Incineration (20-25%) (Calculated 10-15%) Thermal Cracking Catalytic Cracking Opportunity Produce Hydrocarbons 9 Wax, Diesel, Kerosene, Gasoline, Raw Material for Petrochemical Industries, …
Different Processes Thermal vs. Catalytic NOTE: Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polystyrene are the best raw material for this process Thermal Cracking Catalytic Cracking Disadvantageous Disadvantageous - Higher temperature - Contamination makes problem - Higher reaction time (larger reactor) - Cost of catalyst/ Higher Operating cost - Higher production of gases (Methane, etc.) - Regeneration of catalyst - Complex process - High fix capital investment Advantageous - Simpler technology Advantageous - Lower operating cost - High tolerance to contamination - Lower temperature - Low reaction time - High value product (e.g. high octane Gasoline) 10
How can we materialize the opportunities? Opportunities Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility Training of (Available Data) Undergraduate Students NO Feasible? Stop YES Training of Gather Data (Experimental Tests) Graduate Students NO Feasible? Stop YES Bench Scale Test Training of Graduate Students Academic/Research Opportunities
How can we materialize the opportunities? Academic/Research Bench Scale Test Opportunities Revised Financial and Technical Feasibility Investment Opportunities (Obtained Data) NO Feasible? Stop YES Pilot Test (Design, Procurement, Construction, for Larger Scale) NO Feasible? Stop Move for Full Scale 12
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility • First step (Opportunity for Undergraduate Students, CAPSTONE PROJECT) – Collecting data/Literature review – Basic design – Preliminary design – Cost estimation – Financial evaluation From left to right are Kayte Sutherland, Christopher Lock, Terry Milton, Ryan Gerlach, and Natasha Bieniek (2015) The capstone projects were send to “SNC Lavalin Plant Design Competition” and won the first prizes. 13
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility (Undergraduate Capstone project) 14
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility REFREGERATED PHASE FUEL GAS SEPARATION PLASTIC FEED STYRENE SHREDDER PRIMARY GASOLINE STYRENE PHASE ETHYLBENZENE REACTOR STORAGE DISTILLATION DISTILLATION SEPARATION DISTILLATION KEROSENE SECONDARY ETHYLBENZENE DISTILLATION SECONDARY TERTIARY ETHYL- ETHYLBENZENE ETHYLBENZENE BENZENE DISTILLATION DISTILLATION GASOLINE 15
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility Energy Plastic - No Market (Zero Value) 25 tonnes/h HDPE 2.8 tonnes/h PS Products 9.8 tonnes/h Styrene - HDPE+PS 3.6 tonnes/h Ethylbenzene (EB) - Free of Charge Process - No Contamination 2.5 tonnes/h Gasoline 3.3 tonnes/h Kerosene Catalyst (2%) 6.4 tonnes/h Fuel Gas 570 kg/h ZSM-5 - Market Value (2015) - 40$/kg - No Regeneration is Required Solid - Safe to Put it into Landfill 2.2 tonnes/h Coke 570 kg/h ZSM-5 - Landfill at no Cost 16
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility 𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑮𝑫𝑫𝑫 𝑱𝒐𝑱𝑮𝑱𝑫𝑱𝑮𝒐𝑫 = $𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝑱𝑮𝑫𝑫𝑮𝒏𝒐 17
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility 18
Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility Analysis Method Target Our Process Return on Investment (ROI) ROI ≥ 32% 56% Pay Back Period (PBP) PBP ≤ 2.3 years 1.8 years Net Present Worth (NPW) NPW≥ $0 $110 million DCFR* i≥32% 162% Net Return (NR) NR ≥ $0.7 billion $3.7 billion * DCFR = Discounted Cash Flow Rate of Return It is too good to be true! 19
How can we materialize the opportunities? Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility (Available Data) Feasible? YES Gather Data (Experimental Tests) Our extensive (PhD student) study (micro scale) on thermal and catalytic cracking proves that: - It is technically feasible to produce hydrocarbon - Rate of production can be controlled from 5 to 60 minutes - Conversion rate of plastic (HDPE) is almost +95% 20
How can we materialize the opportunities? Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility (Available Data) Feasible? YES Gather Data (Experimental Tests) Feasible? YES Bench Scale Test 21
Bench Scale Test (Experimental Tests, Research) Gas 91 cm (3 ft) Collector Condenser Diesel Collector Plastic and CW Catalyst 60 cm (2 ft) Chiller Reactor Local Control Panel Portable Kerosene Electrical Heater Gasoline Collector (Controlled by PC) Collector Designed and Built by S. Elyasi and S. Khderi (PhD Student) 22
Bench Scale Test (Experimental Tests, Research) Preliminary Feasibility Study Our Finding - 2% of catalyst is required - 20% of catalyst is required - Catalyst is not regenerated - Catalyst should be regenerated 40 times No thought about Regeneration Regeneration is crucial - Reaction time 30 minutes - Reaction time 10 minutes Smaller reactor is needed - Conventional reactor is employed - More complicated reactor is needed More focus should be on Reactor design - Conversion of plastic is 90% - +95% conversion is achievable - Aromatic material are - No answer yet the main products - Contamination does not have effect - No answer yet - Mix plastic can be used - No answer yet 23
Bench Scale Test (Experimental Tests, Research) Needs to be Addressed - Catalyst should be regenerated in-situ One PhD student works on this subject - Design of Reactor should be main priority Another PhD student works on this subject - Effect of contamination on performance of reaction is unknown No plan yet - Performance of the reactor using mixed plastics is unknown No plan yet 24
How can we materialize the opportunities? Preliminary Financial and Technical Feasibility (Available Data) NO Feasible? Stop YES Gather Data (Experimental Tests) ? NO Feasible? YES Bench Scale Test NOT Enough Information 25
Conclusion • There is a good potential for converting waste plastic to hydrocarbons • Till commercialization, several important issues should be addressed • More research is needed Email: 𝑱𝑮𝑫𝒕𝑫𝑱𝑮𝒕𝑫𝑫𝒕𝑮𝒕𝑮𝑫𝑮𝒕 . 𝒅𝑫 Tel: 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 26
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