Plastics-to-Fuel via CoalTL

 
Maoyun He, Bo Xiao, Zhiquan Hu, Shiming Liu, Xianjun Guo and Siyi Luo
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
 
Mike,
 
We've documented that, along with cellulose, such as sawdust and previously-loved Intel's, some other organic materials can be converted, along with our coal, into liquid fuels and chemicals. Herein, from China - where they're establishing a secure domestic liquid fuel and chemical materials supply through an extensive coal-to-liquid industrialization program - they recognize that coal-to-liquid technology enables the reclamation and recycling of other materials, including some waste plastics.
 
The excerpt:
 

"Abstract

The catalytic steam gasification of waste polyethylene (PE) from municipal solid waste (MSW) to produce syngas (H2 + CO) with NiO/γ-Al2O3 as catalyst in a bench-scale downstream fixed bed reactor was investigated. The influence of the reactor temperature on the gas yield, gas composition, steam decomposition, low heating value (LHV), cold gas efficiency and carbon conversion efficiency was investigated at the temperature range of 700–900 °C, with a steam to waste polyethylene ratio of 1.33. Over the ranges of experimental conditions examined, NiO/γ-Al2O3 catalyst revealed better catalytic performance as a view of increasing product gas yield and of decreasing char and liquid yields in the presence of steam. Higher temperature resulted in more H2 and CO production, higher carbon conversion efficiency and product gas yield. The highest syngas (H2 + CO) content of 64.35 mol%, the highest H2 content of 36.98 mol%, and the highest CO content of 27.37 mol%, were achieved at the highest temperature level of 900 °C. Syngas produced with a H2/CO molar ratio in the range of 0.83–1.35, was highly desirable as feedstock for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis for the production of transportation fuels."

Note the conclusion that some plastic wastes, like coal, are "highly desirable as feedstock for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis for the production of transportation fuels."