(447a) The Nano-F-Pores Process for the Production of Nanocarbons Form Waste Plastic

This work presents the scale-up endeavour of the novel Nano-F-PoRes process aimed at producing carbon nanofilaments (CNF) and synthesis gas from waste plastic. The pilot scale process (kg-lab) has a CNF production capacity of 1 kg/h, which is roughly 250 times higher than the current g-lab one. Although such a capacity is still lower than what can be qualified as a commercial unit, it could be easily used as a pilot unit towards commercialization.

The methodology involves:

• A continuous bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) autothermal pyrolyzer (ATP), characterized by two in series regimes (oxidative and reductive), is designed, built and presently tested to optimize its operation. The BFB can be either an inert particulate material (i.e. olivine or alumina or silica sand) or a component contributing as thermo-catalytic cracking and reforming material. Preliminary tests at g-lab scale are available and will be presented.
• The product of the ATP step is fed into a hybrid catalytic reactor vessel combining a bubbling fluid and a mobile catalytic bed (HMFBR); this vessel was patented as a mobile bed filter and it is now tested as a reactor vessel for the production of CNF. At lab scale the CNF are produced in a semi-batch reactor composed of a catalytic fixed bed under the form of metal sheets appropriately positioned in the reactor space (vertical star–valve configuration). Such a configuration allows for a uniform distribution of the reactants and maximizes the CNF production radially and axially. Reactor must be stopped when CNF fill the metal sheets interspace up to a maximum level defined by pressure loss increase across the bed. The reaction is endothermic and heat must be provided with uniformly. At small scale this heat transfer is simple and it is done electrically. At larger scale heat transfer and semi-batch operation become major challenges. The catalytic reaction producing CNF has been tested at g-lab scale with various pyrolysis products surrogate molecules and the results will be also presented.
• The so-produced CNF are entrained along with the gaseous products of the HMFBR and they are recovered continuously using a particles retention train based on the utilization of high T metallic filters.

The pilot is installed in a recently inaugurated process scale-up building at the Université de Sherbrooke. 3D drawings and pictures of the equipment as well as the so far evolution of the project and the results will be presented.

Since the process is presently at the stage of submitting a patent, this abstract cannot include more data. The latter will be though available to be presented during the conference.