BOCA DEL RIO, Mexico (AP) — A startup in Mexico is trying to help get a handle on one Gulf coast city’s plastic waste problem by converting it into gasoline, diesel and other fuels. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * BOCA DEL RIO, Mexico (AP) — A startup in Mexico is trying to help get a handle on one Gulf coast city’s plastic waste problem by converting it into gasoline, diesel and other fuels. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? BOCA DEL RIO, Mexico (AP) — A startup in Mexico is trying to help get a handle on one Gulf coast city’s plastic waste problem by converting it into gasoline, diesel and other fuels.
With less than 10% of the world’s plastics being recycled, Petgas’ idea is that rather than letting discarded plastic become waste, it can become productive again as fuel. Petgas developed a machine in the port city of Boca del Rio that uses pyrolysis, a thermodynamic process that heats plastics in the absence of oxygen, breaking it down to produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin and coke. Carlos Parraguirre Díaz, chief technology officer at Petgas, said that in a week, the machine can process 1.
5 tons of plastics and produce 356 gallons (1,350 liters) of fuel. The process does require propane to initiate the heating, but once the pyrolysis begins, the gas it produces is used to keep it going, according to the company. And using fuel it produces does throw off c.
