Petroleum Oil products are one of the most expensive kinds of fluids. The price of the fluids is not that high if you look at one litre of petrol and diesel But. the rate of consumption of the fuel makes it very difficult for our generation to purchase it. The most important thing behind the daily rise in the price of petrol is mainly due to the increasing demand for the product which is followed by unfulfilled global demand. This is because petrol is a non-renewable element. Every year, inflation pushes the oil prices up. However, what would you do if someone is ready to provide you with petrol at Rs. 40 for a litre?
Professor Satish Kumar from Hyderabad has developed a technique which converts plastic into petrol. He has successfully concluded the process and is selling Petrol at Rs. 40 per litre. He is a mechanical engineer and has founded an MSME (Micro, small and medium enterprises) registered company. The company works on the process to convert plastic to fuel. It is known as ‘Plastic Pyrolysis’.
Satish Kumar has converted around 50 Tonnes of non-recyclable plastic into fuel. His company is currently working on the same process and is producing 200 litres of petrol daily using 200 kg of plastic as raw material. They sell the final product at the least rates possible.
In an Interview with News 18, Satish told that the same process can be used to convert plastic into diesel, aviation & petrol. The process can produce up to 400 litres of fuel by using 500 kgs of plastic waste neither using any water nor producing any waste water.
As per the details provided by him, except for plastics made of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), every other kind of plastic can be used for making petrol from the stated process. The fuel that they make is currently being used by industries. However, it is yet to be tested for vehicles.
The main aim of Satish and his company is to become an aid in conserving the environment by reducing plastic waste and generating efficient fuel out of it. “We are only trying to do our bit to ensure a cleaner future. We are ready to share our technology with any interested entrepreneur,” said Satish.
M.O. Garg, IIP director said in this behalf “The current prices of petrol, derived from crude hydrocarbons, range between Rs 70 and Rs 80 per litre. Petrol generated using this process costs Rs 30-40 per litre. There is a mammoth amount of solid waste generated in the country. It could be procured at a minuscule cost.”
Satish also told that the factories are not equipped with any chimney or exhaust because the entire plastic that enters the process gets consumed and finally converted into petrol. Even the by-products can be put to use, thus generating zero waste.
Although the process is long, it is not so tedious. Plastic is a polymer. It needs to be de-polymerised for the process. After that, the dead plastic is put in a vacuum chamber, along with some other necessary ingredients and is heated to 350-400 degrees Celsius by using induction, microwave or infrared heating. This causes the gasification of the input materials. The inline distillation system installed separates petrol, diesel and high-speed diesel. The Process generates by-product petrol gas and petroleum coke which also have industrial uses.
There are tons and tons of plastic that is spread all across the earth for years. Countries are exporting scraps to decompose or recycle their waste. With these kinds of innovation and technology, India can become a country that imports plastic from various countries and make the most useful and important fuel out of it. This way we would not only be compensating the depleting petroleum from the world but will also become an aid in creating a plastic free world.
