Development of an innovative microwave-based process for recycling end-of-life PVC

开发基于微波的创新工艺来回收报废 PVC

• 批准号: 10060742
• 金额: $ 79.49万
• 依托单位: HALOCYCLE 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=10060742
• 关键词: Development; innovative; microwave; based; process

Halogenated plastics such as PVC are highly versatile polymers used in a wide range of applications. PVC represents ~20% of all plastics manufactured globally. However, it is their useful properties (e.g. durable, non-conductive, chemically resistant) that also mean they are particularly challenging to recycle at end-of-life. Mechanical recycling is a low-cost option, but due to degradation of material, only a limited number of recycles are possible. PVC is currently excluded from chemical recycling due to the highly corrosive acidic by-products which present a significant process engineering challenge. In addition, the range of additives and plasticisers used to modulate PVCs properties increase complexity. As a result, each year in the UK, ~460,000 tonnes of PVC-waste is incinerated or sent to landfill.Recent regulatory changes prohibiting persistent organic pollutants from landfill or incineration plus introduction of the Plastics Packaging Tax means a chemical process for recycling PVC is urgently needed by both waste handlers and plastic producers.This project will lead the development of the UK's first chemical recycling plant for PVC-processing in response to growing volumes of PVC waste. Halocycle will develop an innovative microwave-pyrolysis process for depolymerisation of PVC into its constituent monomers. Non-metallic process components that are inherently acid-resistant overcome the engineering challenges with handling acidic by-products. The process will be demonstrated using cable granule PVC-waste feedstocks recovered from electrical cable metal extraction processing, currently not recyclable, as a potential downstream processing step for integration into current recycling plant processes.Technoeconomic analysis will validate technical performance and economics of process scale-up, supporting investment decision for a demonstration plant build towards commercialisation of the process. Processing of PVC into its constituent monomers provides a sustainable supply of valuable chemical building blocks for plastic production avoiding reliance on fossil-fuel based alternatives supporting a Circular Economy approach.

PVC等卤化塑料是用途广泛的聚合物，应用范围广泛。PVC占全球生产的所有塑料的约20%。然而，它们的有用特性（例如耐用、不导电、耐化学腐蚀）也意味着它们在寿命结束时回收利用特别具有挑战性。机械回收是一种低成本的选择，但由于材料的降解，只有有限数量的回收是可能的。PVC目前被排除在化学品回收之外，因为其具有高度腐蚀性的酸性副产物，这对工艺工程提出了重大挑战。此外，用于调节PVC性能的添加剂和增塑剂的范围增加了复杂性。因此，每年在英国，约460，000吨PVC-废物被焚烧或送往填埋场。最近的法规变化禁止持久性有机污染物填埋或焚烧，加上引入塑料包装税，这意味着废物处理商和塑料生产商迫切需要回收PVC的化学工艺。该项目将引领英国第一家化学回收厂的发展，PVC加工以应对不断增长的PVC废物量。Halocycle将开发一种创新的微波热解工艺，将PVC解聚成其组成单体。非金属工艺组件具有固有的耐酸性能，可克服处理酸性副产品的工程挑战。该工艺将使用从电缆金属提取加工中回收的电缆颗粒PVC废料原料进行演示，目前无法回收，作为潜在的下游加工步骤，整合到当前的回收工厂工艺中。技术经济分析将验证工艺放大的技术性能和经济性，支持为该工艺的商业化建设示范工厂的投资决策。将PVC加工成其组成单体为塑料生产提供了可持续的有价值的化学构件供应，避免了对化石燃料替代品的依赖，支持循环经济方法。