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Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

blest.co.jp

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Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#121

Post by dr_orpheus »

photochemsyn wrote: post #116

Some issues: 1) Says it draws 1 kilowatt constantly and 'begins to produce oil in one hour', while also only holding about 1 kg max of plastic. How long does it take to finish processing the 1 kg of plastic into the 0.8 kg of oil? Is this a reasonable overall energy-return-on-energy-investment (and see #2 below, it will take additional energy). 2) If this is producing a typical crude oil, is further refining needed t…

Below the "spec table" they have an example run with household plastic waste.

- 3.5 hours @ 1 kW (may be an overestimate of power since it says as a guide)

- Converts 400g of plastic to 286g of oil, so with a "dirtier" source of plastic its a ~70% return.

Also more data here [0] with ratios in the 60-90% range.

[0] https://blest.co.jp/eng/experimental-data/

Edit: On that page it also says "As you look into the data you can understand our machine can produce high grade oil mixture of gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil and little heavy oil. The oil can be used as recycled fuel for electric power generator without refining." The second sentence seems like a bit of a reach, that there would not be some intermediary step.

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#122

Post by luxoramonrising »

fnordpiglet wrote: post #8
wheels wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing the answer is, "Because you can already burn the plastic directly." Presumably burning this oil would have the same levels of pollution as burning the plastic in the first place, but also takes extra energy to produce.

Other than if you have a Mr Fusion you can’t run a car off of solid plastics. But, I assume some additional steps are required to make it usable. The site doesn’t detail the possible uses of the the oil, but generally liquids and solids can be used in different situations. The oil could also be used as lubricant rather than an energy source.

Flammable lubes are a big no no

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#123

Post by Laaas »

generalizations wrote: post #109

I remember nearly two decades ago a PopSci article about some guy who figured out how to use microwaves to convert plastic (any hydrocarbon) into oil and natural gas. More than enough to break even. He was converting tires and waste plastic. Nothing ever came of it - IIRC, ownership disputes with the partner, and eventually the patent got purchased by some random company and blackholed. Edit: found a source. Better t…

I'm surprised that people didn't replicate his work in countries that don't respect Western patents.

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#124

Post by jp57 »

generalizations wrote: post #109

I remember nearly two decades ago a PopSci article about some guy who figured out how to use microwaves to convert plastic (any hydrocarbon) into oil and natural gas. More than enough to break even. He was converting tires and waste plastic. Nothing ever came of it - IIRC, ownership disputes with the partner, and eventually the patent got purchased by some random company and blackholed. Edit: found a source. Better t…

Shouldn't it be almost out of patent by now?

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#125

Post by throwaway2037 »

mrpopo wrote: post #66
osigurdson wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t believe plastic burning is a widespread energy source.

Japan and I believe Singapore burn most of their plastic in incinerators to generate electricity. Coincidentally they are also among the highest plastic waste producers per capita.

Korea, Taiwan, and Switzerland are similar.

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#126

Post by naravara »

jhoechtl wrote: post #102
naravara wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if most households have enough use for lubricants to be able to consume a quantity equivalent to 80% of the volume of plastics they're disposing of. My door hinges and bike-chains can only be so smooth. Even if it was converting it into usable motor-oil (which I doubt it is) I don't think I could consume that much. I suppose if it's usable for a kerosine type of lamp maybe, but is it pure enough to not p…

Many people still have ICE cars, you left that intentionally out?

I mentioned motor oil

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#128

Post by koheripbal »

ahmedk92 wrote: post #96
manbitesdog wrote: post #82

"This sounds too cool, let's check HN comments for the disappointment"

Before looking, it will probably be more pollution.

There is a reason that portion of the crude oil was made into plastic, and not sold as oil or fuel to begin with.

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#129

Post by koheripbal »

Laaas wrote: post #123
generalizations wrote: post #109

I remember nearly two decades ago a PopSci article about some guy who figured out how to use microwaves to convert plastic (any hydrocarbon) into oil and natural gas. More than enough to break even. He was converting tires and waste plastic. Nothing ever came of it - IIRC, ownership disputes with the partner, and eventually the patent got purchased by some random company and blackholed. Edit: found a source. Better t…

I'm surprised that people didn't replicate his work in countries that don't respect Western patents.

Because there is no way it was economical.

This is no different than a startup founder talking about his new AI crypto fund.

BS exists in every industry.

Re: Plastic to Oil – Produces 80% Oil

#130

Post by headcanon »

quaintdev wrote: post #2

So what is wrong with this? I am assuming it only takes soft plastic but still why we don't see widespread use of it.

I would imagine that its not economically viable at scale. First, it might be too energy-intensive for the value of the end product, and second, the plastic you can get is still the plastic that you're able to separate from trash, which it might be better to just recycle it normally. These are just peanut-gallery guesses though, I don't know for sure.
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