CircuPlast - A Green Chemical Recycling Process for PET

CircuPlast - PET 的绿色化学回收工艺

• 批准号: 10057937
• 金额: $ 30.32万
• 依托单位: STOPFORD LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10057937
• 关键词: CircuPlast; Green; Chemical; Recycling; Process

This project will develop CircuPlast, an advanced eco-friendly technology, to recycle waste PET-based plastics (e.g., pots, salad trays, and tubs), by converting them to commodity compounds that can be used to manufacture fresh plastics.Currently, only half of the PET waste in the UK is recycled, with the remainder going to landfill or incineration. This is due to limitations in present-day recycling processes: mechanical recycling is widely utilised but degrades the physical properties of PET, limiting lifespan and useability; pyrolysis converts PET to a mixture of gases, tars and other substances but does not yield the chemicals desired for PET production.Our technology, CircuPlast, utilises the unique powerful properties of hot compressed water (HCW) at elevated pressures and temperatures to convert PET waste into high-value chemical compounds, namely terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), which can then be used to manufacture fresh PET plastic.This technology will increase the overall recycling rate for PET and thereby help prevent the release of plastic waste into the environment whilst also reducing the carbon emissions associated with plastic manufacture -- by supplanting fossil fuel derived feedstocks with sustainably sourced alternatives.This project will demonstrate the applicability of CircuPlast to PET recycling, employing a laboratory-scale batch reactor to optimise process conditions and generate experimental data, which will be integrated into a computer model of the process and utilised to design an industrial scale continuous process. The scaled-up process design will include PET feedstock preparation, hydrolytic conversion by HCW, and separation of product/by-product streams to achieve an efficient, environmentally friendly route to high purity TPA and EG. Successful outcome will lend an invaluable platform to take the technology forward to a pilot scale demonstrator. As well as helping to address the well-documented issues relating to plastics in the environment, this project will also seek to enable a truly circular economy approach to the management of PET plastics packaging, especially as current mechanical recycling processes are limited to non-contaminated and non-deteriorated PET waste.

该项目将开发一种先进的环保技术CircuPlast，以回收废弃的PET基塑料（例如，目前，英国只有一半的PET废物被回收，其余的被填埋或焚烧。这是由于目前回收工艺的局限性：机械回收被广泛使用，但会降低PET的物理性能，限制寿命和可用性;热解将PET转化为气体、焦油和其他物质的混合物，但不产生PET生产所需的化学品。我们的技术CircuPlast，利用高温高压下的热压缩水（HCW）的独特强大性能，将PET废料转化为高价值的化合物，即对苯二甲酸（TPA）和乙二醇（EG），该技术将提高PET的整体回收率，从而有助于防止塑料废物释放到环境中，同时还减少了与塑料制造相关的碳排放-该项目将展示CircuPlast对PET回收的适用性，采用实验室规模的间歇反应器优化工艺条件并生成实验数据，这些数据将被整合到工艺的计算机模型中，并用于设计工业规模的连续工艺。扩大规模的工艺设计将包括PET原料制备、HCW水解转化以及产品/副产品流的分离，以实现高效、环保的高纯度TPA和EG路线。成功的结果将提供一个宝贵的平台，将该技术推向中试规模的演示。除了帮助解决与环境中的塑料有关的有据可查的问题外，该项目还将寻求实现真正的循环经济方法来管理PET塑料包装，特别是因为目前的机械回收工艺仅限于未受污染和未变质的PET废物。