Researchers at the Federal Research Center “Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences” have developed an environmentally friendly thermolysis oil derived from plastic waste with chlorine levels reduced by about 200 times. Building on this breakthrough, the team envisions a no-waste loop for producing petroleum products, a future they describe as a sustainable cycle in which plastics are created from petroleum and later transformed back into refined fuels, according to the institute’s representatives.
“We’re still in the early stages, but the core goal is a closed-loop system. Plastics originate from petroleum, and the aim is to convert them back into petroleum products. This thermolysis oil is mixed with conventional fuels to assess how plastic waste behaves, paving the way for a cleaner fuel option,” explained Valeria Krestyaninova, a laboratory assistant in the Catalytic Process Technology Department at the Siberian Branch, during an interview with socialbites.ca.
Global plastic production now stands around 500 million tons annually, yet only about 20 percent of plastic waste is recycled. The remaining amount poses environmental challenges, underscoring the need for effective processing methods that can reduce pollution and recover value from discarded materials.
Among the most promising directions is converting plastic waste into fuel using thermolysis oil. This product, derived from treated plastic waste, has the potential to serve as a valuable additive to motor fuels or even as a standalone fuel, offering an alternative route to manage plastic pollution while supporting energy needs.
In their experiments, researchers produced thermolysis oil from a range of household plastics, including polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and low-density polyethylene. Through careful processing, they achieved a significant reduction in chlorine content of the feedstock, addressing a key environmental and operational concern associated with chlorine-containing plastics.
Compared with oils produced by traditional methods, the newly developed thermolysis oil shows comparable properties, suggesting it could integrate smoothly into existing refining and fuel formulation processes.
Initial tests involved initiating a hydroprocessing sequence to observe how the new oil behaves under catalytic upgrading. The findings indicate that the material’s essential characteristics remain largely unchanged, which is encouraging for potential industrial application and further optimization of the process.
The researchers now plan to investigate the mechanism by which chlorine is removed during interactions with catalysts, a line of inquiry expected to enhance overall process efficiency and reduce energy demands in subsequent iterations.
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