Solution for Plastics
Part -1
My Goal is to reduce the plastic waste or turn it into another form which is eco friendly and non harmful. Since the science still says that there is no solution for Plastic pollution i strictly believe that there is still good solution for this by following the rule
for every every action there is an Equal opposite reactions,
and the word from Holy Quran verse "(6)فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا(5) إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا .(fa inna ma'al usri yusra, inna ma'al usri yusra (Verily after every hardship there is relief, after every hardship there is relief)). There must be a reason why this was repeated twice in Surah Inshirah. To give us reassurance.
Findings from Internet
- Why is plastic harmful?
- Plastic pollution on land poses a threat to the plants and animals – including humans who are based on the land. ... Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals into the surrounding soil, which can then seep into groundwater or other surrounding water sources and also the ecosystem of the world.
- What is the main ingredient in plastic?
- The main ingredient in most plastic material is a derivative from crude oil and natural gas. There are many different types of plastics – clear, cloudy, solid colour, flexible, rigid, soft, etc. Plastic products are often a polymer resin which is then then mixed with a blend of additives (See polymer vs. plastic).
- Burning
- When plastic is burned, it releases dangerous chemicals such as hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, dioxins, furans and heavy metals, as well as particulates. These emissions are known to cause respiratory ailments and stress human immune systems, and they’re potentially carcinogenic.
- Inhaling fumes from burning plastic waste can cause coughing, shortness of breath, dizziness and cancer. (Shutterstock/somsak suwanput)
- Typical combustion products are CO2 and H2O, i.e., carbon dioxide and water. CO (carbon monoxide) is also produced by most fires involving organic compounds; more CO is produced when there is an incomplete supply of oxygen. Since plastics don’t burn very well, often the combuston products include more CO. Depending on the composition of the plastic, they may also give off a whole mess of other gases, some of which may be highly toxic, such as hydrogen cyanide.
- A green way to burn plastic waste
- “The trick lies in pyrolysis of sawdust, which produces large amounts of heat, as high as 300 degrees Celsius. For treating the hazardous gases being produced when plastic burns, you have to treat them with water, which will dissolve the harmful gases,”
- Artificial fuel : “Generally, burner uses artificial fuel. But gas, kerosene, and oil may cost high and release more harmful smoke. Further, materials such as wood only burns for a shorter time and gets lit off easily. Heavy plastic metals cannot be melted completely in this short time and it requires more fuel for consistent and long-term burning. Moreover, in some conventional apparatus, waste and the fuel are burned in a single unit that may lead to uncontrolled fire and damage the facility,” Mr. Somasundaran says.
- Burning plastic as cleanly as natural gas
- iannis Levendis, Distinguished Professor Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern, keeps a photograph of a burning plastic foam cup tacked to the wall above his desk. Thick black smoke emanates from the receptacle, which, subsequent pictures reveal, was reduced to a sooty powder by the end of the combustion process.
- Burning plastic in the traditional manner creates extremely polluting byproducts, as evidenced by the black smoke produced by the cup. But this didn't thwart Levendis, who noted that plastic contains the same amount of energy per pound as premium fuel.
- "We wanted to tackle the problem by preprocessing the plastics," said Chuanwei Zhuo, a doctoral candidate in Levendis' lab. Toward that end, the team developed a combustion system that adds a simple step to the burning process that allows for turning plastic into a fuel that burns just as cleanly as natural gas.
- That simple step has a daunting name: pyrolytic gasification. Instead of directly setting the cup aflame with a match in the open air, the team's reactor heats the material to a whopping 800 degrees Celsius in a completely oxygen-free environment. This causes the plastic to become a gas, which is then mixed with air before it is burned as a clean fuel.
- How Plastics made
- Plastics are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil
- Two main processes are used to produce plastics - polymerisation and polycondensation - and they both require specific catalysts. In a polymerisation reactor, monomers such as ethylene and propylene are linked together to form long polymer chains. Each polymer has its own properties, structure and size depending on the various types of basic monomers used
- Two main polymer families:
- Thermoplastics (which soften on heating and then harden again on cooling). Examples of Thermoplastics
- Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
- Polycarbonate (PC)
- Polyethylene (PE)
- Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
- Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
- Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polystyrene (PS)
- Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)
- Thermosets (which never soften once they have been moulded). Examples of Thermosets
- Epoxide (EP)
- Phenol-formaldehyde (PF)
- Polyurethane (PUR)
- Unsaturated polyester resins (UP)
- How Is Plastic Made? A Simple Step-By-Step Explanation
- Extraction of raw materials (largely crude oil and natural gas, but also coal) – these are a complex mixture of thousands of compounds that then need to be processed.
- Refining process transforms crude oil into different petroleum products – these are converted to yield useful chemicals including “monomers” (a molecule that is the basic building blocks of polymers). In the refining process, crude oil is heated in a furnace, which is then sent to the distillation unit, where heavy crude oil separates into lighter components called fractions. One of these, called naphtha, is the crucial compound to make a large amount of plastic. However, there are other means, such as using gas.
- Polymerisation is a process in the petroleum industry where light olefin gases (gasoline) such as ethylene, propylene, butylene (i.e., monomers) are converted into higher molecular weight hydrocarbons (polymers). This happens when monomers are chemically bonded into chains.
- A polymer is a large single chain-like molecule in which the repeating units derived from small molecules called monomers are bound together. The process by which monomers are transformed into a polymer is called polymerisation.
- For example ethylene polymerizes to form polyethylene.
- There are two different mechanisms for polymerisation:
- The addition polymerisation reaction is when one monomer connects to the next one (dimer) and dimer to the next one (trimer) and so on. This is achieved by introducing a catalyst, typically a peroxide. This process is known as chain growth polymers – as it adds one monomer unit at a time. Common examples of addition polymers are polyethylene, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride.
- Condensation polymerisation includes joining two or more different monomers, by the removal of small molecules such as water. It also requires a catalyst for the reaction to occur between adjacent monomers. This is known as step growth, because you may for example add an existing chain to another chain. Common examples of condensation polymers are polyester and nylon.
- In compounding, various blends of materials are melt blended (mixed by melting) to make formulations for plastics. Generally, an extruder of some type is used for this purpose which is followed by pelletising the mixture. Extrusion or a different moulding process then transforms these pellets into a finished or semi-finished product. Compounding often occurs on a twin-screw extruder where the pellets are then processed into plastic objects of unique design, various size, shape, colour with accurate properties according to the predetermined conditions set in the processing machine.
- Hydrolysis
- Polymers are broken down into monomers in a process known as hydrolysis, which means “to split water,” a reaction in which a water molecule is used during the breakdown. During these reactions, the polymer is broken into two components. If the components are un-ionized, one part gains a hydrogen atom (H-) and the other gains a hydroxyl group (OH–) from a split water molecule. This is what happens when monosaccharides are released from complex carbohydrates via hydrolysis.
- Electrolysis
- Electrolysis is the process of using an electrical current to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. The electrical charge that is applied to water will break the chemical bond between the hydrogen and oxygen atoms and produce charged particles called ions.
- The energy required to split water into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis is about 260 kJ per mole of water. Splitting one litre of water would take at least 16 MJ (4.4 kWh), which is an enormous expense on an industrial scale.
- The water splitting of seawater and other salt water is used industrially to make chlorine, however, and the waste hydrogen collected comprises about five percent of the world's supply. A version of water splitting occurs in photosynthesis, but hydrogen is not produced.
- Photocatalysts
- Photocatalysts are defined as materials which decompose detrimental substances under the sun lights containing UV rays. Mainly, TiO2 is used as photocatalyst at present. Among polymorphs of TiO2, anatase phase shows the most effective photocatalytic effect.
- Photocatalysis is the activity occurring when a light source interacts with the surface of semiconductor materials, the so called photocatalysts. During this process, there must be at least two simultaneous reactions occurring, oxidation from photogenerated holes, and reduction from photogenerated electrons.
- Titanium dioxide, in thin film and nanoparticle form has potential for use in energy production: as a photocatalyst, it can break water into hydrogen and oxygen. With the hydrogen collected, it could be used as a fuel. The efficiency of this process can be greatly improved by doping the oxide with carbon.
- Photosynthesis
- Photosynthesis, the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. During photosynthesis in green plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds.
- It is convenient to divide the photosynthetic process in plants into four stages, each occurring in a defined area of the chloroplast: (1) absorption of light, (2) electron transport leading to the reduction of NADP+ to NADPH, (3) generation of ATP, and (4) conversion of CO2 into carbohydrates (carbon fixation).
- Where is plastic made in the world
- Plastics production: what plastics are and how they are made
- Plastics are used in a wide variety of products and have displaced other materials that were previously used for the applications that plastics now dominate such as wood, metal, and glass. It can be formed into polyesters for use in fabrics and textiles, polyvinylidene chloride for food packaging, and polycarbonates for eyeglasses and compact discs, among thousands of other uses. The production of plastic requires four basic steps: the acquirement of raw material, synthesizing a basic polymer, compounding the polymer into a usable fraction, and lastly, molding or shaping the plastic. The production of plastic is quite energy intensive, requiring 62 to 108 mega joules of energy per kilogram based on U.S. efficiency averages. Producing silicon can require up to 235 mega joules per kilogram of material.
- China's plastic production stands out among world regions
- In 2018, the global production of plastics reached 359 million metric tons, with 62 million metric tons of that amount produced in Europe alone. China is one of the largest producers of plastics in the world, accounting for more than one quarter of the global production. Plastic imports into the United States are steadily increasing, with China being the top supplier. China's plastic exports have grown considerably in the past decade, with an export value of 14.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, increasing to 43.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2018.
