Award Abstract # 2015919
I-Corps: Process Intensification in a Multi-Product Waste Polyolefin Refinery

NSF Org: TI
Translational Impacts
Recipient: MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: June 11, 2020
Latest Amendment Date: October 13, 2022
Award Number: 2015919
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Ruth Shuman
rshuman@nsf.gov
 (703)292-2160
TI
 Translational Impacts
TIP
 Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships
Start Date: June 1, 2020
End Date: June 30, 2023 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $50,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $50,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2020 = $50,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • David Shonnard (Principal Investigator)
    drshonna@mtu.edu
  • Nathaniel Yenor (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Ulises Gracida-Alvarez (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Michigan Technological University
1400 TOWNSEND DR
HOUGHTON
MI  US  49931-1200
(906)487-1885
Sponsor Congressional District: 01
Primary Place of Performance: Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton
MI  US  49931-1295
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): GKMSN3DA6P91
Parent UEI: GKMSN3DA6P91
NSF Program(s): I-Corps
Primary Program Source: 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 802300
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.084

ABSTRACT

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a low-cost and energy-efficient conversion of mixed waste plastics into an intermediate product that the petrochemical industry can convert into new polymer resin. This new technology will revolutionize the plastics recycling industry and will allow for closed-loop plastic material flows. The process technology will improve recycling of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plastics from materials recovery facilities (MRFs), significant because PE and PP comprise over 50% of global plastics production and post-consumer waste generation. The proposed process is modular and small footprint so that it may be deployed over a wide range of scales to serve municipalities of various population sizes. The products from this process may be of great interest to petrochemical firms who are seeking solutions to recycling and a circular economy for plastics. This project will explore translation to help municipalities, counties, and states achieve higher mandated recycle rates for PE and PP plastics.

This I-Corps project is based on the development of a novel waste plastics recycling process that will enable a circular economy for olefin plastics, polyethylene and polypropylene, and contribute to the solution of the global waste plastics problem. The design of the proposed technology combines multiple functions into each process unit, increasing energy efficiency and cost savings. The technology is based on rapid conversion at elevated temperature in a reactor with precise control over the molecular conversion mechanisms. In addition, the process may generate a range of chemical products, such as monomers, aromatic intermediates, and fuel-range liquid products substituting for petroleum naphtha, diesel, jet, and gasoline.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

As part of the NSF I-Corp project, due to COVID-19 protocols we remotely interviewed over 100 leaders in the waste plastics supply chain to understand the market opportunity of waste plastics pyrolysis. These interviews also revealed that MRFs produce significant quantities of mixed plastics bales that currently have no markets in recycling, and are therefore landfilled or incinerated. If pyrolysis could process mixed plastic bales, there would be a market fit if the economics are favorable. We also discovered that downstream customers of SuPyRec, such as petrochemical companies which include large multinational companies producing virgin plastic resins, could purchase pyrolysis oil and ?crack? it to produce virgin-quality plastic resins as well as high-value chemicals. Representatives of these companies indicated that there may be a purchase price premium for the pyrolysis oil of 10% relative to conventional feedstocks, such as petroleum naphtha. The reason for the price premium, according to these interviewees, is the urgent need by the chemical industry to ?close the loop? on the life cycle of plastics to avoid conventional end-of-life disposal in landfills and incineration. In the thinking of the chemical industry, chemical recycling technologies such as pyrolysis will create value for end of life waste plastics, leading to more responsible material management, avoidance of leakage to the environment with its adverse effects such as ocean plastic waste and microplastics accumulation.  

As a result of these interviews and an NSF STTR Phase 1 experience, we shifted our mindset to the production of base oils and waxes from the pyrolysis of waste plastics.  Lab pyrolysis experiments at Dr. Shonnard?s lab at MTU confirmed that we could produce high wax yields from waste PE at lower temperatures and lower energy consumption than needed to produce pyrolysis liquids and gas. In the Spring of 2023, Drs. Shonnard and Kulas traveled to the National Candle Association (NCA) Conference and Exhibition in Charleston, SC to exhibit our newly-made minimum viable product (MVP), scented candles produced from refined pyrolysis wax.  During the conference, we found unanimous interest in the novel candles and wax made from waste plastics obtained from military meals-ready-to-eat (MRE) bags (see photographs as attachments). We interviewed 11 different companies across the candle and wax industry. Many of them considered wax from waste plastics to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly wax and over half the interviewees expressed strong interest in testing our wax samples at their labs as part of a future business collaboration. 


Last Modified: 08/25/2023
Modified by: David R Shonnard

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