Making a rocket stove to do plastic pyrolysis

Hello everyone.

Please accept my apologies if my english is not perfect, i'm french
I would like to be able to build a rocket stove that would let me heat a barrel at 500°C.
The idea is to vaporize plastic to transform it back to hydrocarbures.

I was wondering if i could use the smoke from rocket stove chimney to heat the barrel.
The idea is to redirect the smokes to let them be around the barrel and then let them out by the bottom.

Do you think it's possible ?

Thank you very much.

Hi Gregory,

Do you want to use plastic as fuel
or
make a stove that wold turn plastic into lighter fuel that will be used somewhere else?

Hi Gregory;
A 200 mm J-Tube RMH can produce and maintain those temperatures using dry wood, split very small

I do not understand your plan for accomplishing the plastic vaporizing using an RMH.
Perhaps a drawing of what you have in mind will help.

Yes, indeed my ultimate goal is to be able to turn it into gasoil and fuel.
For that here is my idea :

- first step is to vaporize the plastic into crude
- Then from this crude oil, to heat at different temperature to separate fuel and gasoil.

So currently, i'm looking for making the first step.
For that i need to heat the plastic at 500°C without oxygene and cool down the fumes to get the crude oil.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Hi Gregory,

Do you want to use plastic as fuel
or
make a stove that wold turn plastic into lighter fuel that will be used somewhere else?

Hi thomas,

I will try to draw something but since i can't do it right now i will try to explain a bit more.
I was not thinking about a RMH since i'm not sure the mass will be useful for that.

I was thinking about a L or J Tube rocket design and reroute the fumes from the chimney in a kind of bell where my reactor would be in the middle.
My idea is that the smoke would go around the reactor, heat it, then evacuate and that i would be able to use the heat to vaporize the plastic inside.
Of course, there will be a system outside to get the fumes, cool it down, and retrieve the crude oil.

I would like to use a rocket stove to avoid electricity and because i think it can reach the temperature easily without too much pollution.

thomas rubino wrote:Hi Gregory;
A 200 mm J-Tube RMH can produce and maintain those temperatures using dry wood, split very small

I do not understand your plan for accomplishing the plastic vaporizing using an RMH.
Perhaps a drawing of what you have in mind will help.

From note on this video ->


@brianmurphy8790
1 year ago
Folks, HDPE is recycle code 2
You can also use LDPE, recycle code 4.
Don't use other plastics, some of them give off toxic and corrosive gasses.
You can get at least 3 fractions - one a bit like petrol, one a bit like kerosene and one kinda like diesel, but as a wax.
That depends on the temperature you cook and cool.
Don't heat the plastic too much and get the gas VERY cold - if you want to collect the lightest and most volatile compounds.
It will begin to give off gas at about 250c, as it gets hotter, the heavier compounds begin to vapourise.
At 500c the whole thing will boil away.
If you want separate fractions, it's easier to control the input temperature than the cooling temperatures.
For collection, submerge the condenser outlet in a bucket (with lid) of cold water. You'll need a couple of holes in the lid, obviously. One for the condensate pipe and one small vent hole.
All the good stuff will float on the water, for you to skim off.






I have been looking at the same process....     The key seems to be getting the right plastics....

But this video demonstrates how to do it...       But be aware of the fumes  dixons are not good to breath.

Methonol is another thing I have been wanting to do as well,  less harmful fumes.

Gregory, what is your ultimate goal? Why create liquid hydrocarbons? What will they be used for?

I am concerned that the reactor you want to build, filled with hot hydrocarbon gases, could be a serious fire hazard. I hope you will be careful and have safety measures in place.

Also, some plastics (especially vinyl) generate dangerous, persistent toxins when heated. Please be careful when choosing your feedstock.

Edit: Mart beat me to it!

thanks Mart,

A video is sometimes more userful than words.
That's exactly what i studied. As the video said, it's much easier to make crude oil from plastic and then control the heat of the crude oil to separate differente components, than control the cooldown as in a distillation tower.

So my first goal is to get this crude oil from plastic and i would like to use a rocket stove to achieve this 500°C to avoid using gaz or electricity.

Anyone know if i can use fumes from the rocket (is it hot enough) to heat my reactor or shoud i do differently ?

gregory collin wrote:thanks Mart,

A video is sometimes more userful than words.
That's exactly what i studied. As the video said, it's much easier to make crude oil from plastic and then control the heat of the crude oil to separate differente components, than control the cooldown as in a distillation tower.

So my first goal is to get this crude oil from plastic and i would like to use a rocket stove to achieve this 500°C to avoid using gaz or electricity.

Anyone know if i can use fumes from the rocket (is it hot enough) to heat my reactor or shoud i do differently ?

Not a rocket stove, but it can be done.




As for design you are probably venturing into places that not many have done.

I see.

Does anyone has an idea of how hot are your fumes at the exit of the chimney ?
Do you think i could use a cooking rocket stove design, with flames around my reactor ?

gregory collin wrote:I see.

Does anyone has an idea of how hot are your fumes at the exit of the chimney ?
Do you think i could use a cooking rocket stove design, with flames around my reactor ?

That depends on which rocket stove you build.        There are some designs here that  can run a kiln or one can forge metal with.

The Pizza oven can hit 500 deg F easy if insulated correctly.

500C = 932F

I found some experimental data that suggests it's possible:
http://www.bioenergylists.org/stovesdoc/Ogle/DOStovetest.html