Recycling plastic back into oil
"A US company is taking plastics recycling to another level - turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas.
All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and - hey presto! - a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).
Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas."
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn12141-giant-microwave-turns-plastic-back-to-oil.html
This is an impressively cool idea. Since different molecular bonds absorb different microwave frequencies, it's reasonable to use a specific set of frequencies to break down a long-molecular-chain plastic or rubber into short-chain oils.
I do have a couple worries. One would be that you could get all kinds of funny, potentially toxic organic byproducts. Your fuel/combustible gas might or might not be nastier than an ordinary gasoline or oil spill if it leaked into the environment.
Another issue is the cost of the electrical energy to run the microwave. GRC claims that enough oil and gas is produced to run the machine (via a diesel generator?) plus some left over. How much net energy or fuel yield you get seems critical in deciding how useful the technology is in general(though for metal-strippers like Geshow Recycling, it seems great in any case).
One thing I love about the method is that it seems to work on mixed plastic waste. That's a lot simpler than most plastic-to-plastic recycling methods, which require extra steps to separate out each type of plastic. The simplicity suggests the possibility of small, localized units (assuming toxic waste issues can be overcome).
All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and - hey presto! - a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).
Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas."
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn12141-giant-microwave-turns-plastic-back-to-oil.html
This is an impressively cool idea. Since different molecular bonds absorb different microwave frequencies, it's reasonable to use a specific set of frequencies to break down a long-molecular-chain plastic or rubber into short-chain oils.
I do have a couple worries. One would be that you could get all kinds of funny, potentially toxic organic byproducts. Your fuel/combustible gas might or might not be nastier than an ordinary gasoline or oil spill if it leaked into the environment.
Another issue is the cost of the electrical energy to run the microwave. GRC claims that enough oil and gas is produced to run the machine (via a diesel generator?) plus some left over. How much net energy or fuel yield you get seems critical in deciding how useful the technology is in general(though for metal-strippers like Geshow Recycling, it seems great in any case).
One thing I love about the method is that it seems to work on mixed plastic waste. That's a lot simpler than most plastic-to-plastic recycling methods, which require extra steps to separate out each type of plastic. The simplicity suggests the possibility of small, localized units (assuming toxic waste issues can be overcome).