Publisher

UNSIKAUNSIKA

Journal BAROMETERBAROMETER Abstract

Ineptly handled plastic waste has both economic and environmental repercussions. The countrys reliance on single-use plastics such as multilayer sachets and pouches has led to the country becoming a sachet economy, worsening the regions concerning levels of land and marine plastic pollution. By most estimates, the Philippines use a massive 163 million sachets every day. Unfortunately, only the sachets have been counted, not the whole projected number of used plastics throughout the country. Thus, the researchers have proposed an idea to test the feasibility of converting low-density polyethylene and coal fly ash as catalyst into fuel. Coal fly ash is a byproduct that can be found most especially in coal-fired power plants. The plastics will undergo the process of pyrolysis wherein depolymerization takes place in order to produce fuel. For the Statistical Computation of the Sample Size to be Surveyed, the researchers used the Slovins formula wherein the obtained data and decided to use a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error and therefore got 399 respondents. Forecasted demand was obtained using the Statistical Straight-Line Method with an average annual increase of 5.58%. The same method was used to forecast the supply which has an average annual increase of 4.49% for the next five years. The initial projected net sale is P515, 650,864.11. The highest possible quality of the desired product is attainable with 82.55% plant capacity utilization that operates in 287 possible manufacturing days with one production shift. The product underwent four different tests, all of which has a positive outcome for the product as an alternative for LPG. The total project cost is P400, 000,000.00 and has a 3.25 years payback period. Therefore, this project is feasible.

Conclusion

The conversion of waste plastic into liquid fuel has the potential to alleviate the problem of plastic waste recycling as well as the scarcity of liquid fuel in developing nations such as the Philippines.Thermal degradation of plastic is a simple and cost-effective process.The yield of the product may be done and enhanced by adjusting process parameters such as temperature, pressure, and catalyst quantity.As mentioned, catalyst used is the coal fly ash which a byproduct in coal-fired power plants.It has a significant contribution in the process by solidifying the sustainability of the liquid fuel produced as it provides great factor in the chemical reaction of the product output.As verified by research and laboratory institution available in the country, the qualities of the liquid fuel created in this feasibility study were determined to be equivalent to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and even better for used in households.As a result, it may be argued that VERDE Fuel may be a future alternative fuel not only for household but to other applications.Its great potential for usage may immensely contribute to the countrys gap for LPG demand and allows whole nation to enjoy a safe and environmental- friendly fuel.

Future Research

Berdasarkan penelitian ini, terdapat beberapa saran penelitian lanjutan yang dapat dilakukan untuk mengembangkan teknologi konversi limbah plastik menjadi bahan bakar lebih lanjut. Pertama, penelitian dapat difokuskan pada optimasi proses pirolisis dengan variasi katalis yang berbeda untuk meningkatkan hasil dan kualitas bahan bakar yang dihasilkan. Kedua, perlu dilakukan studi komparatif terhadap berbagai jenis plastik yang dapat dikonversi menjadi bahan bakar, serta pengaruh komposisi campuran plastik terhadap karakteristik bahan bakar. Ketiga, penelitian dapat mengkaji potensi penggunaan produk sampingan dari proses pirolisis, seperti minyak pirolisis, sebagai bahan baku untuk produk kimia lainnya, sehingga dapat meningkatkan nilai ekonomi dari proses konversi limbah plastik.

References

1. BAROMETER. project feasibility converting low density polyethylene coal fly ash fuel barometer authors... journal-ft.unsika.ac.id/index.php/barometer/article/view/6917BAROMETER project feasibility converting low density polyethylene coal fly ash fuel barometer authors journal ft unsika ac index php barometer article view 6917

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