Recently articles in Discovery Magazine (Vol. 24 No. 5, May 2003) and information on various websites (see list at end of this article) have discussed a technology called Thermal Depolymerization that converts just about any kind of waste product to oil and other useful materials. For example, one billion tons of waste could yield as many as 5 billion barrels of a product similar to light crude oil. Thermal Depolymerization plants are now in test production in various locations around the United States. Full scale operations could occur by 2005.

Proponents of the technology claim that the process can result in lower dependence on foreign oil by the United States, reduce the amount of waste that needs to be deposited in landfills and in the ocean, and provide cleaner burning fuels. The types of wastes that these plants convert include organic garbage, old computers, corn, paper, infectious medical waste, oil-refinery residues, sewage and even biological weapon material. The output of the process is oil, gas (like natural gas), and other materials that can be used for products such as plastics and fertilizers. A major byproduct is clean water.

The Thermal Depolymerization process is potentially better than the production of ethanol because it accepts more inputs than just corn. The technology accepts almost any carbon-based materials.

Proponents of the technology claim that this technology is a huge change in the way we produce fuel and handle waste materials. The technology presents the opportunity of no longer needing imported oil and no longer having to be concerned with toxic waste disposal.

The Thermal Depolymerization process involves mimicking nature’s creation of oil. Hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon-bearing molecules, known as polymers, decompose into short-chain petroleum hydrocarbons under pressure and heat. The trick is to duplicate nature’s process that takes thousands to millions of years. This is accomplished by precisely raising heat and pressure to the levels that break the long molecular bonds. A process that nature does chaotically. A key is utilizing the water content rather than expelling it. The technology succeeds, where previous efforts have failed, due to the controlled process of breaking down the steps of superheating the material, extracting water, then breaking down molecules. Previous, unsuccessful, technologies tried to do it all in one step and tried to expel the water rather than to use it in the process. MIT’s Technology Review’s website has a simulation demo of the process at www.technologyreview.com. It is also described in the Technology Review Magazine of June 2003, on page 73.

A combination of private and government sources have invested over $50 million for development of the process.

There are advantages and problems with the process.

Some advantages are:

• The technology provides a source of petroleum products and will reduce dependence by the United States on foreign oil.
• The technology can be utilized in refining petroleum and coal products resulting in cheaper, cleaner products.
• The process has proven to be energy efficient. The system is 85% efficient.
• The process greatly reduces the problems of waste disposal including hazardous waste. Less landfills will be needed for trash.

Some problems are:

• Unlike solar and wind generation, the process produces pollution. The end product of oil and gas will also pollute when burnt.
• Many Thermal Depolymerization plants will have to be constructed and brought on-line for the production of a substantial amount of petroleum.
• Different waste materials require different handling techniques.
• Converging all waste in the US will still not yield enough oil to replace all other sources.

Despite the problems, the technology has a lot of promise. It could be an interim solution for producing inexpensive energy while the technologies for solar and hydrogen are being fully developed. The oil products produced can be used in hydrogen vehicles where petroleum products are converted to hydrogen for powering fuel cells. This results in less harmful emissions than from conventional gasoline engines.

More information on this technology and details on how it works can be obtained from the following sites:

Changing World Technologies' Web site: www.changingworldtech.com.

Woods Hole Research Center: www.whrc.org

University of Illinois Urgana-Champaign—BioEnvironmental Engineering Department http://www.age.uiuc.edu/bee/ Articles on thermochemical conversion technology

 

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