In my previous position, we performed a technology landscape study in order to investigate different technology options that could be used to achieve plastic circularity in South Africa. Many technology options came up in the open literature and it was evident that a lot of R&D was happening in the pyrolysis space. Pyrolysis is a challenging technology to achieve plastic circularity due to the fact that it needs a relatively clean feed stock i.e. expensive (and limited) feedstock that then economically competes with mechanical recycling. Additionally, pyrolysis oil needs to be further cracked in a naphtha cracker in order to obtain the monomer building blocks for polymer re-synthesis. The naphtha cracker makes the economics challenging for green field installations as well as resulted in a complicated process flowsheet for brown field installations. During the landscape study, the technology proposed by Synova Tech, did not feature. Upon further analysis, I do however see that it proposes an elegant solution to achieve plastic circularity and hits the sweet spot between pyrolysis and gasification. Using a unique reactor configuration and gas clean-up process, the Synova cracking technology can process a wide variety of waste (unlike pyrolysis) and directly extract the valuable monomers from the waste without the need for a further cracking step as required by pyrolysis or synthesis step as required by high temperature gasification. I’m interested in Synova’s technology development and the role that it can play in achieving plastic circularity and will be watching with anticipation.
So far, pyrolysis and gasification are the only two chemical recycling pathways described to work for mixed plastic waste streams. There is a third way – cracking. A solid waste cracker operates at temperatures between a pyrolysis reactor and a gasifier and produces a product gas that is rich in C2 to C7 molecules, very similar to a Naphtha steam cracker furnace. It therefore enables a significantly shorter recycling loop than pyrolysis and gasification to produce the targeted circular monomers, avoiding additional reaction steps and the associated plastic-to-plastic yield losses. Operating at the “just right” temperature also ensures that unwanted heteroatoms present in the waste like O, N, S, and Cl end up predominantly in small molecules, that can be separated from the circular monomer streams using industry-proven gas-cleaning technologies. Our CEO Joerg Krueger will be speaking about this unique chemical recycling solution developed by SYNOVA and its partners at ERTC 2023 (https://lnkd.in/dwASgmH). Don’t miss it! #SynovaTech #temperature #cracking #pyrolysis #gasification #chemicalrecycling #circulareconomyforplastics #sustainability #technology #advancedrecycling #ERTC23 #ERTC #conference
