{
    "title": "HDPE Plastic Bags recycled to Oil",
    "inventor_name": "Brajendra Kumar Sharma",
    "publication_year": 2014,
    "device_name": "Plastic to Oil",
    "goal": "Convert waste HDPE plastic shopping bags into diesel and other petroleum products.",
    "problem_addressed": "Plastic bag pollution and the need for alternative fuel sources.",
    "concept_summary": "The researchers use pyrolysis of HDPE waste grocery bags in an oxygen-free chamber at 420-440  deg C to produce a crude oil, which is then distilled into diesel-range hydrocarbons and other fuel fractions. The resulting diesel meets ASTM D975 and EN 590 specifications after antioxidant addition and can be blended up to 30 % with conventional diesel.",
    "detailed_description": null,
    "category": "Thermal Systems",
    "principles": [
        "Pyrolysis",
        "Distillation",
        "Fractionation",
        "Fuel blending"
    ],
    "scientific_domains": [
        "Chemical Engineering",
        "Petroleum Engineering",
        "Environmental Engineering"
    ],
    "mechanisms_of_action": [
        "Thermal decomposition of HDPE into hydrocarbon vapors",
        "Condensation of vapors to produce plastic crude oil",
        "Distillation of crude oil into diesel-range fractions",
        "Blending of diesel fractions with conventional diesel"
    ],
    "materials": [
        "HDPE plastic shopping bags",
        "Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD)",
        "Soybean oil methyl esters (SME)",
        "Antioxidants",
        "Water"
    ],
    "energy_sources": [
        "Thermal energy (heat)"
    ],
    "inputs": [
        "HDPE plastic bags",
        "Heat (~=420-440  deg C)",
        "Water (for condensation)"
    ],
    "outputs": [
        "Diesel fuel",
        "Natural gas",
        "Naphtha",
        "Gasoline",
        "Waxes",
        "Lubricating oils"
    ],
    "claimed_performance": "Diesel fractions meet ASTM D975 and EN 590 specifications after antioxidant addition; cetane number 73.4; energy content 46.16 MJ/kg; up to 30 % blend with regular diesel without compatibility problems.",
    "experimental_evidence": "Laboratory batch pyrolysis of 500 g HDPE bags (2 h, 420-440  deg C) yielded 74 % liquid product; fuel properties measured by GC-MS, NMR, FT-IR, etc.; diesel fractions complied with national standards after antioxidant addition.",
    "replication_status": null,
    "keywords": [
        "plastic waste",
        "pyrolysis",
        "diesel fuel",
        "HDPE",
        "fuel blending",
        "environmental remediation"
    ],
    "related_technologies": [
        "Plastic-to-fuel conversion",
        "Thermal cracking",
        "Catalytic hydroprocessing"
    ],
    "controversy_level": "low",
    "confidence_score": 0.95,
    "practicability_score": 0.8,
    "fringe_score": 0.2,
    "evidence_strength": 0.7,
    "risk_score": 0.2,
    "trl_estimate": 5,
    "source_urls": [
        "http://news.illinois.edu/news/14/0212bags_oil_BrajendraKumarSharma.html",
        "http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.01.019"
    ],
    "organizations": [
        "Illinois Sustainable Technology Center",
        "University of Illinois",
        "USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research"
    ],
    "applications": [
        "Alternative diesel fuel production",
        "Plastic waste management",
        "Renewable energy"
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "Requires external heat input",
        "Liquid yield limited to ~74 % of feedstock",
        "Scale-up not demonstrated"
    ],
    "open_questions": [
        "Economic viability at commercial scale",
        "Lifecycle emissions compared to conventional diesel",
        "Long-term engine performance with blended fuel"
    ],
    "red_flags": [],
    "evidence_quotes": [
        "We can just use it as a drop-in fuel in the ultra-low-sulfur diesel without the need for any changes.",
        "A mixture of two distillate fractions, providing an equivalent of U.S. diesel #2, met all of the specifications required of other diesel fuels in use today after addition of an antioxidant.",
        "The diesel mixture had an equivalent energy content, a higher cetane number and better lubricity than ultra-low-sulfur diesel.",
        "The researchers were able to blend up to 30 percent of their plastic-derived diesel into regular diesel, and found no compatibility problems with biodiesel."
    ]
}