Tires or plastic to oil?

Hi everybody.

Well, has anybody tried a tire or plastic to oil backyard retort? Made one of seen one? Time consuming? Easy to make or use?

I'm intrested.

Thanks a lot .

Max.

Not to oil, but to gas. In 1989 I visited a backyard mechanic who had put together a small pyrolysis unit and burned tire chips. He had constructed a barrel as a hopper, then had fashioned what I'm guessing to be an inch+ diameter pipe in a horseshoe shape having long legs. One leg was attached to the hopper and the other was below the first. In each of the legs he had an auger. The trick was to fill the pipe completely and auger the chips through not allowing any oxygen in the process. He had some type of a cap on the out end, I can't remember what it was, but he lit that thing with fire and the gas roared out with a huge blue flame. Now, I am sure to have missed something in this description - it was a long time ago!

I'm not sure, but this might be on order of the fuel source of that private space ship that breached the upper atmosphere here lately.

Ok Rick.

Thanks a lot for the reply.

This is what led me to ask.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6NbljcpDew

Very interesting. This is a comment below the video I am want to know more about: What about the toxic byproducts of the distillation-dioxins and stuff what do you do with the charred remains of your fuel stock thanks.

As long as there no vinyl or PVC, there shouldn't be any dioxins. At least it's what i seem to remember from plastic incinerators.

There are a few papers out on using microwave ovens.

cleaner, and more efficient, as long as you aren't using wood....

got a fed grant for one of them too...

I guess what they do there is the Fischer-Tropsch process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer%E2%80%93Tropsch_process), which typically produces toxic dioxines when using household plastic.
It's efficiency is also rather bad - typically below 25%.

A german inventor has found a better process with (claimed) efficiency above 60%, producing Diesel at 0,25€ per litre (roughly 1,22$ per gallon).
They have a working protoype plant using woodchips for a few years now, and a commercial plant that processes the plastic garbage of a county in Germany since April 2012.
They claim to be able to process any carbon based material - so any kind of bio mass can be used.
Could be the technology to end the waste of food plants for producing fuels.
Imagine a fast growing plant like hemp or bamboo usable for renewable energy, instead of using corn or wheat to produce ethanol/bio diesel.

If interested, take a look at their website http://www.alphakat.de

Here's how to do it efficiently. Lots of information here:
http://www.energeticforum.com/renewable-energy/7040-how-turn-plastic-waste-into-diesel-fuel-cheaply.html

you can use any plastic, but some are easier than others.

Satamax, I have been lucky enough to be involved with a couple of start up companies who used Fischer tropsch based tech with new ideas to process any carbon based waste. The theory is that any thing made from carbon chains can be reprocessed to form other carbon chains. We worked with wood mostly but also experimented with tires, coal, gasses,and manures. There are lots of people all over the world working on this stuff. Some use solar to heat the system some use the gasses that are produced to heat the process. We worked with very high temps to "crack" the heavier carbon chains. I cannot get into to many specifics as I signed documents to keep what I know secret for 7 years. I can tell you this stuff works and searching on the internet will give you everything you need to know. Just remember this is very dangerous stuff , toxic gasses and explosive . Have fun

Thanks a lot for your replies guys.

I won't do a backyard retort for several months/years. I just wanted to keep myself up to date. Frankly, what intrests me the most is hydrothermal carbonization. And for the moment, i'm busy with rockets and day job.

Thanks a lot.

Max.

Guy from Aprovecho doing that
youtube video link

gani et se wrote:Guy from Aprovecho doing that
youtube video link

Ok! Thanks a lot. That's the first video i bumped onto. And it looks rather like my kind of gear.

I'm thinking cold plasma with an electron gun will be the breakthru with this tech.

The beam blasts molecules apart, and spits out carbon buckyballs nanotubes as a waste product.

Morgan Morrigan wrote:I'm thinking cold plasma with an electron gun will be the breakthru with this tech.

The beam blasts molecules apart, and spits out carbon buckyballs nanotubes as a waste product.

Yeah, and as we say nowadays in France, "la marmote elle mets le chocolat dans le papier d'alu"