When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Carpeting. Construction and demolition plastics. Industrial polymer scrap. Laundry baskets. These kinds of items are usually considered difficult or impossible to recycle and end up in landfills. Kelley Stoklosa of Recycling Today report that several companies collect these materials and use technologies with minimal relative energy inputs to turn them into crude oil, natural gas, and other fuel products.
Converting plastics has advantages beyond just keeping tons of plastics out of landfills each year. Kim Holmes, the principal consultant at 4R Sustainability, Inc. in Oregon, told Stoklosa that converting plastics to oil produces much fewer environmental problems than incineration, and the conversion systems can all operate under a simple air permit.
The conversion processes typically include either a thermal treatment called pyrolysis or a chemical process called depolymerization. The video above provides details about the shredding and conversion process used by Agilyx in Tigard, Oregon.
According to Recycling Today, Vadxx Energy, a company in Cleveland, Ohio:
[…] uses a continuous depolymerization process that takes long chains of polymers and breaks them down into shorter chains of hydrocarbons in the form of light, sweet synthetic crude and hydrocarbon gas.
Stoklosa reports that Polyflow LLC in Akron, Ohio:
[…] uses a patented thermal pyrolysis process that breaks apart the polymers into a set of reactive species and then allows them to reform into… the lightest and most valuable chemical compounds produced from crude oil.
Most of the materials used for conversion are what recycling facilities can’t process. And although the conversion processes can handle a lot, they have limits. For example, some systems can take carpet, and others cannot. In other cases, a purification step is needed after initial conversion to fuel. For example, PVC and PET plastics, as well as some additives like brominated flame retardants, can become acidic during conversion, and the acids have to be removed to ensure a quality product.
The type and amount of energy recovered vary by company. Some processes produce a “fleet-ready fuel product,” while others produce a crude oil that requires refining. But are the processes too energy-intensive with regard to energy input versus energy output? Stoklosa reports that the processes can yield as much as 15 times energy output as input.
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