(403f) Agile Techno-Economic Analysis to Advance Circular Manufacturing of Poly-Crude from Waste Plastics through Catalytic Hydrocracking

There is a clear call for the advancement in innovative solutions that add value to plastic waste. Chemical recycling has gain attention for its ability to transform plastic waste into fuels and chemical compounds, which has the potential to not only helps to reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption by valorizing plastic waste into value-added products, but also aligns with efforts to achieve a circular plastics economy. Thermal chemical conversion of plastics refers to the process of converting plastic waste into energy or useful chemicals through thermal treatment methods such as pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), solvolysis, hydrogenolysis, hydrocracking, etc. [1]. Among these, hydrocracking has the advantages of low operation temperatures, high production of alkanes over olefins, and low coke formation. Moreover, hydrocracking yields high-quality liquid oil without the need of several separation steps [2]. Additionally, it is a well-established process in the refinery industry that alleviates the challenges in scale-up and infrastructure, and therefore has recently gained attention for its efficacy in decomposing plastics, particularly for polyolefins [3], [4], [5].

Despite the continuous progress in catalysts design and reaction performance, a substantial gap persists in comprehending how factors such as processing design, operating conditions, uncertainties in materials price, and others technical and economic variables may impact on the economic viability of the process. In this regard, this research performs system level techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to elucidate the environmental impacts and economic potential of the potential manufacture of poly-crude, a compatible product with the current refinery feedstock, from waste POs. We aim to conduct agile TEA at the early stage of the technology development to provide guidance in identifying the operational range where plastic conversion through hydrocracking is economically feasible. The integration with current Refinery can take advantage of the already existing petrochemical facilities which represents enormous savings on capital investment [6]. We evaluate new hydrocracking process economics in the context of the catalytic pathways that emerge from recent studies, following established approaches for cost analysis using n^th-plant project costing and financing [7], [8]. Discounted cash flow analysis are used to estimate final product pricing. Preliminary TEA based on literature inputs and market reports indicate process economics are strongly impacted by on-site H₂ storage and PO feedstock costs (note feedstock costs apply to other chemical conversion processes as well). Potentially favorable poly-crude process economics were identified for feedstock prices near $500/ton for 250-500 ton/day plant capacities. Other decisions and process parameters such as feed conversion and liquid yield, also influence the economic metrics. Preliminary results indicate that feedstock price may account for approximately 60-70% of the MCSP. For this study we plan to establish connections between catalyst performance metrics (e.g., yield, conversion) and key economic indicators such as minimum crude selling price (MCSP), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), among others, which will allow researchers to identify critical process parameters and product considerations governing the economic feasibility of integrating waste POs into the petrochemical supply chain

References

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[5] Z. Qiu et al., “A reusable, impurity-tolerant and noble metal–free catalyst for hydrocracking of waste polyolefins,” Sci. Adv., vol. 9, no. 25, p. eadg5332, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg5332.

[6] G. Yadav et al., “Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment for catalytic fast pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste,” Energy Environ. Sci., vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 3638–3653, 2023, doi: 10.1039/D3EE00749A.

[7] Davis, R. et al. "Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbons: Dilute-Acid and Enzymatic Deconstruction of Biomass to Sugars and Catalytic Conversion of Sugars to Hydrocarbons". Report No. NREL/TP-5100-62498 United States 10.2172/1176746 NREL English, Medium: ED; Size: 133 pp. (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO., 2015,

[8] Phillips, S. D., Tarud, J. K., Biddy, M. J. & Dutta, A. "Gasoline from Woody Biomass via Thermochemical Gasification, Methanol Synthesis, and Methanol-to-Gasoline Technologies: A Technoeconomic Analysis". Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 50, pp.11734-11745, 2011.