Regional Festival of Talents 2019

Science Processes and Practices On-Site Test

I. Title: EP GENESYS: Efficient Power Generation System

Presenter Number 2

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Science Processes and Practices On-Site Test

II. Summary
Our society has always been advancing. With these advancements

come the trails that we leave behind. These trails, in the form of wastes, are

often there for a long period of time. Recent human activity has contributed

to the accumulation of these wastes. Now, this is a major issue as these

wastes are heavily affecting us and our surroundings. As millions of tons of

wastes are produced around the world, a call for proper solid waste

management is needed. Meanwhile, the researchers are investigating how to

integrate our current technologies to solve this predicament, thus enters EP

GENESYS. This system combines two existing solutions to solid waste

management namely the anaerobic digestion of biosolids and hydrothermal

liquefaction of plastic wastes to produce oil. The biosolids will go through

anaerobic digestion in a bioreactor to produce methane and digestates

which will be used as fertilizers. The methane will then be used to heat up a

hydrothermal reactor that contains the plastic wastes. The high temperature

from the methane and the high pressure from the pressurizer will break

down the plastic into oil. The oil will be used to produce gasoline or to the

converted into renewable gas used to generate electricity.

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III. Background and Problem
Challenges & Proposed Solution: Our society is always advancing.

With these advancements come drastic changes to our surroundings. As

said by Xaxx, the accumulation of solid wastes heavily affects ecosystems,

some waste also contains different toxins that can leach into soil and water

and poison plants and animals. Piles of wastes also contribute to the global

warming that is currently affecting us, by the release of methane gas which

is a greenhouse gas. We are now living in a dirty community that resulted in

reckless disposal of wastes.

The proposed solution aims to convert solid wastes into oil. The EP

GENESYS is derived from the idea of putting together two existing

technologies: Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Liquefaction. The

biosolids will undergo anaerobic digestion to produce methane which is

used for the hydrothermal liquefaction of the plastic wastes to produce oil

that can be converted to gasoline/renewable fuels which can be used to

produce electricity.

The Scientific Principles & Technology. An article by the Royal Academy of

Engineering confirmed that plastics can be turned into oil. Their process

includes selective extraction and hydrothermal liquefaction. Their study

used plastic into naphtha, which is a mixture of hydrocarbons, by using

supercritical water at 380-500 degrees Celsius at 23 MPa. Ninety-one

percent of the plastics were effectively converted into oil.

The most common method to convert biowaste into biofuel is through

Anaerobic Digestion. As said by the American Biogas Council, anaerobic

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digestion is a biological process that involves microorganisms breaking down

biodegradable material with no oxygen present. This process produces

biogas, which can then be used to produce electricity or heat, and it can be

processed into renewable gas and transportation fuels.

Beneficiaries: Department of Environment and Natural Resources;

Department of Energy; Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

Consumers ; Establishments; Future Researchers.

IV. Proposed Solution to the Problem

The researchers having the traits of being practical and creative

students who are interested in engineering, specifically chemical and

industrial engineering, the proponents of this study are intrigued to find a

solution to this predicament. It is on this premise that the researchers

spearheaded this investigation to turn plastic wastes into oil through

hydrothermal liquefaction with the use of renewable biofuels.

Methods. EP GENESYS was derived from the idea of putting together

two existing technologies to create a path for a better quality of life:

Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Liquefaction. The bioreactor would

be producing methane gases by “extracting” the said gases from various

types of biosolids. The resulting gas would then be redirected onto the

hydrothermal reactor to provide heat at 250 °C up to 500°C. During this

process however, it will produce byproducts called digestates which are the

materials remaining after the anaerobic digestion of a biodegradable

feedstock, which can then be used as a natural fertilizer. The said

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hydrothermal reactor would then be pressurized by a pressurizer giving up

to 23 megapascals of pressure which is equivalent to about 100 car tires

which on average house about 33 pound-force per square inch each, which

would enable the water to be in a supercritical state and thus begin the

hydrothermal process of turning plastic into waste by having the water

break down the plastic (which is usually made out of polypropelene) into oil,

which can be used as a building block for other chemical gas energies such

as gasoline thus reducing the needed amount of fossil fuel to be used and

creating a possibility for a renewable and very sustainable method of

producing energy. The project itself would then be able to solve three

problems at once, namely: solid waste management, the lack of natural

fertilizers, and the need for sustainable energy.

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Materials and Cost

Material Cost

Hydrothermal Reactor
Php 8,100
(AUTOCLAVE-PPL-025)

0-40MPa 1800W Electric High-

Pressure Air Compressor Pump Php 18,500

70dB

Cement (2 sacks) Php 440

Sand (4 sacks) Php 2,800

Gravel (6 sacks) Php 4,200

PVC Pipes (7ft) Php 450

TOTAL Php 34,490

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Work Flow Diagram

Conceptual Framework

References

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American, Biogas Council. n.d. What is Anaerobic Digestion? Accessed

December 3, 2019.
https://americanbiogascouncil.org/resources/what-is-anaerobic-
digestion/.
Cook, Paul Andrew. 2010. Design of a Household Human Waste Bioreactor.
September 24. Accessed December 3, 2019.
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/cook2/.
Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
Federal. n.d. Organic waste. Accessed December 3, 2019.
https://www.bmu.de/en/topics/water-waste-soil/waste-
management/types-of-waste-waste-flows/organic-waste/.
Patel, Prachi. 2019. New Technique Converts Plastic Waste to Fuel. February
14. Accessed December 3, 2019.
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/02/new-technique-
converts-plastic-waste-to-fuel/.
United, States Environmental Protection Agency. n.d. National Overview:
Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling. Accessed
December 3, 2019. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-
materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-
materials.
Wan-Ting Chen, Kai JinNien-Hwa, Linda Wang. 2019. Use of Supercritical
Water for the Liquefaction of Polypropylene into Oil. January 10.
Accessed December 3, 2019.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b03841.
Xaxx, Jagg. 2019. The Effects of Solid Waste Disposal. November 22.
Accessed December 3, 2019. https://sciencing.com/list-7431070-
effects-solid-waste-disposal.html.

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