This article appeared yesterday in "Libé". I deliver it to you:
India could carburer to plastic
Pierre PRAKASH
At first glance, the story has everything a fairy tale. In a small laboratory of central India, an unknown chemistry professor would have found a way to turn plastic waste into gasoline. No loss, no pollution, and fuel ready, all for the modest sum of 0,13 euro per liter of gasoline product. This story is nevertheless true. The spectacular discovery of Alka Zadgaonkar, a professor at a small university in the city of Nagpur, has indeed been tested and validated by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), one of India's largest oil companies. "The process needs to be optimized, but it works," says Niranjan Raje, director of the branch research and development of IOC.
secret ingredient. A small revolution since, to date, no one has found the effective way to get rid of 150 million tons of plastic produced each year worldwide. Patented by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the invention could be especially providential for India, which, with a daily production of over 9 000 tons, awash in waste plastics. Although the inventor has been approached by several foreign companies, she refuses to sell his patent, saying that "the invention must first be used to [his] own country." "If India used this process on half of its waste plastic, it not only limit the pollution, but in addition it would benefit each day from additional 2,5 million liters of gasoline," she calculates.
"The method is effective with any type of plastic, assures the woman of 40 years. Plastic bags, PVC pipe or even waterproof: everything can be used. One kilogram of waste gives a kilo of combustible materials, of which three quarters of fuels. "The process is surprisingly simple. In short, it is sufficient to heat the waste at a temperature of 350 degree with some coal and a guarded secret ingredient. Introduced into a reactor for three hours, they emerge as a liquid fuel (80%), gas (15%) and coal tailings (5%). The liquid contains 40% to 60% gasoline, about 25% diesel, and kerosene and the remaining lubricant. The gas can directly be used in cooking, and coal residues are easily reusable by thermal or metallurgical industry. "So we transform 100% of waste 100% of usable products for individuals or industry," says Umesh Zadgaonkar, husband of the inventor but also a chemist, joined the project.
How does the scientist get there? "The plastics and fuels are both hydrocarbons, she says. The only difference is that the chain molecules is longer for plastic. So I applied to find a way to break that chain to get smaller segments. "Launched in 1995, the method has produced its first results since 1998. And what was initially a hobby for a passionate scientist, could now become an industrial reality. Impressed by the results, the Oil Ministry plans to take to create a pilot plant with a capacity of five tons per day, to see if the process is viable on large quantities. A sum of 1,4 million has been allocated to the project, which is awaiting a final green light from government scientists. The plastic will be provided by the municipality of Nagpur, delighted to find a way to get rid of its waste. By itself, this small town in central India produced some effect 60 tons of plastic per day.
Refining. As promising as it is, the method of the couple Zadgaonkar unfortunately is not perfect. The fuels obtained are indeed not directly usable for vehicles. "They need to be refined, says Niranjan Raje, but we can by cons used as such for generators, agricultural pumps or boilers." To optimize the process, Zadgaonkar signed last year a memorandum of agreement with IOC. This has already found a way to reduce the amount of chlorine contained in the fuel, but the project team believes that the invention especially has an ecological vocation. "The product's commercial viability is limited for now, says Niranjan Raje. But even if we do not find a way to reduce impurities in the fuel, the process is an effective way to get rid of the plastic. "The inventors, themselves, maintain that" the further refinement can easily be done with known methods ". And even without that, "My own car is working for two years with this fuel, says Umesh Zadgaonkar, and I never had any problems."
Moira