Mobile reactor turns ocean plastic waste into invaluable diesel fuel

On April 3, 2017, Swaminathan Ramesh, Ph.D., presented his project to the attendees of the 253rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Francisco. In partnership with sailboat captain James E. Holm, the organic chemist developed a mobile reactor that transformed ocean plastics into diesel fuel. “Using our efficient Plastic to Fuel (PTF) conversion units, we are hoping to address the problems of plastics pollution on land and the ocean,” Ramesh said in an email.

The technology used to break down plastics to acquire fuel has existed for a few years. The steps used in the process of “pyrolysis” are known for being costly and complex, however, and make it difficult to obtain usable fuel. In response, Ramesh worked on creating a metallocene catalyst that, when combined with a controlled pyrolysis reaction and a penetrable support material, produced diesel fuels that did not require further refinement.

“The catalyst system also allows us to perform the pyrolysis as a continuous-feed process and shrink the footprint of the whole system. We can scale the capacity to handle anywhere from 200 pounds per 10-hour day to 10,000 or more pounds per 10-hour day. Because of its small size, we also can take the technological process to where the plastic wastes are,” Ramesh has said in a statement to Science Daily.