How to Convert Plastic Waste to Oil

Trash can have a poor effect on the environment. For example, non biodegradable trash such as plastic takes years to break down and may contain harmful chemicals. However, plastic is made from oil, and environmental scientists have found a way to break down the plastic back to the oil by using machinery such as pressure vessel reaction chambers. Once the plastic is broken down into oil it can be used for energy, such as automobile fuel or gas for your home.

Things You'll Need

• Pressure reaction vessel chamber
• plastic

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Instructions

Instructions

• 1

  Place the plastic material into a pressure vessel reaction chamber and power the machine on.

• 2

  Heat the pressure vessel reaction chamber to about 250 degrees Celsius until the heat completely melts the plastic. The steam that rises will increase the chamber pressure to about 600 psi (boiling point).

• 3

  Release the pressure quickly after the materials are completely melted. The quick release of the pressure will cause the water to boil off and leave a mix of basic hydrocarbons and solid minerals. The gas in the chamber will boil out off the top of the chamber into a container holding water. The water will cool and turn the gas into oil.

• 4

  Remove the solid minerals and heat the remaining hydrocarbons to 500 degrees Celsius to further break them down. Continuing to break down the components into parts according to their specific boiling point will cause some fractions of the compound to evaporate. The remaining compounds with the lowest boiling point will rise and exit at the top of the chamber, and those compounds requiring higher boiling points will exit the bottom on the chamber. This process is called fractional distillation and is used to filter the oil. By breaking the oil down further it can be used for kerosene, diesel oil and gas.