Recycling Ships' Plastic Waste to Syn-Fuel using a Spouted Bed Reactor

Navy ships generate 0.1-0.2 lb/man day plastic waste. An innova tive recycling technology is needed to divert this mixed plastic waste from landfills and utilize its energetic value. EER is currently developing, with industry support, a unique thermal conversion approach centered around a Spouted Bed Reactor (SBR). This recycling technology is designed to gasify heterogeneous waste streams, generating a gasified or liquid syn-fuel product which can be tailored to the particular characteristics of the end use equipment. This proposed SBIR program evaluates the feasibility (Phase I) and demonstrates (Phase II) the EER SBR process for recycling Navy ship generated Plastic Processor product (mixed plastics waste) into a gaseous or liquid phase syn-fuel that can be blended with conventional fuels used in existing Navy fuel fired equipment. The Phase I feasibility study includes an environmental regulation review, Navy base and waste characterization, treatability testing (to help define technical issues for the Phase 11 demonstration), conceptual process design, case study economic evaluation, and concept of operation description. It is anticipated that the results of the Phase I effort will indicate that the SBR process is capable of recycling the Plastic Processor product into a syn-fuel compatible with existing Navy equipment.