710756PyroGen - End of life plastic to oil pyrolysis for a closed loop energy from waste processClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKThe UK is increasing its adoption of alternative waste disposal options including increased material recovery & recycling, & processes that enable the recovery of energy from waste such as anaerobic digestion (AD), incineration & advanced thermal treatment processes such as pyrolysis & gasification to reduce landfilled waste & meet the UK’s increasing energy needs. Currently, UK waste disposal facilities (MRFs, AD plants, composting facilities, etc.) send 27,000kt of end-of-life plastics to landfill at a total cost of ~£70M (gate fees of £80/t) per annum, placing the UK in the bottom 7 of the EU27 for diversion from landfill & at risk of reaching landfill capacity by 2018. Pyrolysis provides a viable solution for the conversion of these end of life plastics back into oil. Smaller scale pyrolysis technologies in operation have been designed to handle a consistent organic biomass feedstock & are limited in scale by pre-treatment & refinement processes. Due to the inconsistent mix of plastics in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, the quality of oil products derived from ELPs is low and further processing is required to give a quality fuel product. Pearwalk propose a novel integrated pyrolysis system which uses a continuous process that will allow for a closed loop/continuous system across a variety of scales using smaller but more frequent waste streams. The technology will provide a significant opportunity for AD plant operators & material recover facilities (MRFs) to turn their unsorted, unwashed waste end of life plastics into clean low sulphur fuels (for heating & energy generation) without the need for extensive, complex & costly pre-treatment or refinement processes. The project aims to design a small scale pyrolysis rig prototype & to evaluate its use with a variety of mixed end of life plastic feedstocks to ensure that sufficient output yields can be achieved for a commercially viable energy from waste solution to be developed.