(619b) End-of-Life Plastic Liquification: Opportunities and Challenges of Scaled Continuous Recycling of Molecules.
AIChE Annual Meeting
2024
2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Topical Conference: Waste Plastics
Recycling and Upcycling of Plastic Waste
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 - 3:47pm to 4:04pm
A core challenge of technological realization is the translation of scale. Alterra’s patented technology for converting mixed discarded plastic into synthetic crude-like oil has successfully scaled from bench to commercial scale with a current capability of > 50 tons of feedstock per day. Leveraging an indirectly heated rotary reactor enables high yielding hydrocarbon capture while subsequently isolating colorants, fillers, and contaminates. However, a current pinch point in the market is the wide variability of discarded plastic streams and a lack of feedstock commercialization. This presentation will outline how our process has matured to overcome technical barriers, and how feedstock sourcing is commercially commoditized.