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Converting Plastic Into a High Energy Fuel Plastic molecules consist almost entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Just like natural gas (methane) or gasoline, plastic is a "hydrocarbon" containing massive amounts of latent energy. |
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Conversion Combats An Environmental Problem And Uses A Wasted Energy Resource
Substantial resources are expended extracting the gas needed to manufacture plastic. Yet, when its useful life is over (often in a matter of only seconds) most plastic is plowed into landfills. At present, there are over 8 Billion tons of waste plastic and the number grows by over 300 million tons every year. In addition to despoiling the environment, landfilling, open burning, and improper disposal of plastic wastes of trillions of BTUs of potential thermal energy. Capturing this energy reduces the need for more drilling, fracking and transport that are detrimental to the world's ecology, while simultaneously reducing landfilling and the export of plastic to locations where it is not responsibly disposed of. |
Keeping Plastic Out of Landfills & Oceans By Making Energy
While plastic is abundant and energy dense, until now, its latent energy has been difficult to extract. CES thermal conversion systems provide a mechanism for unlocking this untapped energy using "gasification," a well-understood, and commercially-proven thermo-chemical process that has been used commercially in other sectors for over a century.
When heat is applied to carbon-based molecules, like plastic, this breaks or "cracks" the bonds between carbon and other atoms that make up the molecule (hydrogen in the case of plastic). If there is oxygen present, the newly-released carbon atoms immediately combine with oxygen releasing heat. This is the chemistry behind fire or incineration. However, incineration of plastic and other substances has many drawbacks including: environmental challenges, scalability and location issues, and it does not generate a combustible gas that can be used to drive a generator. However, where no oxygen available for burning, the result is an energy-rich synthesis gas ("syngas") which can be used to generate hot air, hot water, steam, or generate electricity.
When heat is applied to carbon-based molecules, like plastic, this breaks or "cracks" the bonds between carbon and other atoms that make up the molecule (hydrogen in the case of plastic). If there is oxygen present, the newly-released carbon atoms immediately combine with oxygen releasing heat. This is the chemistry behind fire or incineration. However, incineration of plastic and other substances has many drawbacks including: environmental challenges, scalability and location issues, and it does not generate a combustible gas that can be used to drive a generator. However, where no oxygen available for burning, the result is an energy-rich synthesis gas ("syngas") which can be used to generate hot air, hot water, steam, or generate electricity.
