PFI-RP: A Novel Plastic Waste Recovery, Based on Environmentally Friendly (Green) Solvents

对于拟议的创新-研究伙伴关系(PFI-RP)项目，这一伙伴关系的更广泛的商业潜力是将塑料废物分离成单一的纯树脂，以便在其原始应用中重复使用，如食品包装。这一技术解决方案大大减少了塑料垃圾在垃圾填埋场的处置。这种新颖的方法将废物转化为资产。此外，这种新工艺所需的能源比从石油中生产原始树脂低7-10倍，因为所涉及的温度低于当前生产工艺中的温度(110-130摄氏度)。由于不使用催化剂，操作成本低于石油基聚合物；使用化工标准设备，设备成本较低。经济分析表明，该技术在小型、中型和大型工厂规模下具有成本效益。这项创新的主要好处如下：(1)防止被丢弃在垃圾填埋场；(2)生产可回收塑料产品；(3)减少碳足迹；(4)降低成本。此外，该项目还减少了垃圾填埋场的土地使用量，减少了温室气体的产生，减少了海洋塑料，并提高了材料的可持续性。该项目将能够使用一系列溶剂分离塑料废物中的大多数树脂，每个溶剂专门溶解一种特定的树脂。这一过程基于分子动力学计算，阐明了溶剂和聚合物之间的相互作用，准确地预测和选择了特定聚合物的溶剂。该工艺已在小试规模上进行了实验验证。扩大该技术规模的关键技术障碍是集成各种中试规模的成分、高溶剂回收率和过渡到使用绿色溶剂。与竞争对手相比，主要的优势是能够在相对较短的时间内生成任何塑料树脂在任何溶剂中的溶解度曲线。该团队拥有包括绿色溶剂在内的1000多种溶剂的数据库。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader commercial potential of this Partnership for the proposed Innovation-Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is the separation of plastic wastes into single pure resins to reuse in their original applications, such as food packaging. This technological solution significantly reduces disposal of plastic wastes in landfills. The novel approach turns a waste product into an asset. Further, the energy required for this new process is 7-10 times lower than the production of virgin resins from petroleum because the temperatures involved are lower than those in the current production processes (110-130 oC). The operation cost is lower than the petroleum-based polymers because no catalysts are used and the equipment cost is lower because standard equipment from chemical industry is used. Economic analysis has shown the technology to be cost effective at small-medium-large plant sizes. The following are the main benefits of this innovation: (1) prevention of disposal in landfills; (2) production of recyclable plastic products; (3) reduction of carbon footprint; and (4) lower costs. In addition, the societal benefits are the reduction of land used for landfills, the reduction in greenhouse gas generation, the reduction in ocean plastics, and an increased sustainability of materials.This project will enable the separation of most of the resins in plastic wastes using a sequence of solvents with each solvent specifically dissolving a specific resin. This process is based on molecular dynamic calculations that elucidate the interactions between the solvents and the polymers, accurately predicting and selecting solvents for specific polymers. The process has been verified experimentally at the bench scale. The key technological hurdle in scaling up the technology is integrating the various pilot scale components, high solvent recovery rate, andtransition to the use of green solvents. The main advantage over the competition is the ability to generate solubility curves for any plastic resin in any solvent in a relatively short time. The team has a database of over 1000 solvents, including green solvents.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.