CHEMICAL GLYCOLYSIS METHOD IN WHICH TRANSPARENT PET WASTES ARE RECYCLED TO BE USED IN BOTTLE-GRADE PET RESIN PRODUCTION
Technical Area
The invention is related to the chemical glycolysis method for recycling of PET plastic bottle wastes, transparent polyester textile wastes, transparent PET film wastes and PET sheet industry wastes by PET resin production which is in contact with food.
Known Status of the Technique
The reuse of many substances used in daily life by recycling is important in terms of preserving the natural resources for the future generations and protecting the ecological balance of the world. In general, recycling is the process of including the wastes having the possibility of reutilization in the production processes by converting them to secondary raw material through various physical and/or chemical processes. There are many areas where recycling can be made. Among these, the most known and used one is the conversion in plastic area. Plastics are generally produced using petroleum-derived chemicals. When thrown into the nature, plastics do not only cause visual pollution, but also harm the surrounding organisms and the soil. In addition, recycling and importance of plastic waste is considerable because it takes many years to decompose or dissolve in nature in normal conditions.
PET, which is placed in the class of plastics that can be reshaped by heat and pressure and called as thermoplastic, is one of the most suitable plastic materials for recycling. When the life cycle analyzes are examined, PET plastic bottles, which make up 30% of the PET-based materials with the highest consumption in plastics class, are used as composites less and can be recycled more easily; therefore it loses its property less and finds itself more usage area after conversion.
The material does not lose its value in the recycling process through chemical recovery and re-polymerization of the waste. Different methods are used for the chemical recovery of PET wastes. One of these methods is the glycolysis method in
which the PET is separated up to its monomers and oligomers. PET wastes are recycled through reintroducing the monomers obtained from the PET wastes by glycolysis method into the PET formation after the polycondensation reaction. However, very high purity is needed for the final product of the bottle applications that may come into contact with food. Bottle applications that may come into contact with food and obtained by the present applications of the chemical glycolysis recycling of PET are not suitable for the use of all kinds of PET waste determined. Therefore, monomer which can be used in PET resin synthesis in a suitable level for contact with food cannot be made by using all kinds of transparent PET wastes. There is no any filtration process up to 5 microns for food-contactable PET resin applications in the present processes.
As a result, the existence of the above problems and the insufficiency of the existing solutions necessitated an improvement in the related technical field.
The Objective of the Invention
The present invention is related to the chemical glycolysis method in which transparent pet wastes are recycled to be used in bottle-grade pet resin production, which removes the aforementioned disadvantages and provides new advantages to the relevant technical field.
The main objective of the invention is to realize the production of monomer which can be used in PET resins that can be in contact with food.
Another main objective of the invention is that all transparent PET wastes disposed by the consumer, industrial PET bottles, textile and engineering wastes to be used as raw material.
Another main objective of the invention is to help reduce the environmental pollution caused by plastic materials.
In order to fulfil all the objectives determined above and could be derived from the detailed description, the invention is related to the chemical glycolysis method in which transparent pet wastes are recycled to be used in bottle-grade pet resin production. The feature of the invention is to;
- Realize the process of washing, drying and sorting in the PET fracture cleaning and separation unit and separate the metals and PP, PVC, PE and similar wastes outside of the PET and coloured PET fractures by the extraction process
- Feed the cleaned and extracted PET fractures continuously into the PET fracture depolymerization extruder by taking them in the PET fracture storage silo.
- Lower the melted PET resin viscosity in a very short time by PET fracture depolymerization extruder
- Ensure the complete conversion to the monomers by treating the melt with ethylene glycol in controlled proportions in the mixing reactor for monomer production
Pump the resulting monomer into the filtration reactor
- Mix the monomer with a suitable filtration agent in the filtration reactor
- Pump and filter the monomer treated with filtration agent to heated microfiltration
- Include the process steps of pumping the monomer into the monomer storage tank after ensuring the quality of the filtered monomer
The structural and characteristic features and all the advantages of the invention will become apparent through the detailed figures given below and by the detailed explanation made with reference to these figures. Therefore, the evaluation should be made by taking into account these figures and detailed explanation.
Figures to Help in Understanding the Invention
Figure 1. The schematic view of the system of PET glycolysis method which can be connected with PET resin production.
Figure 2. The flow chart of PET glycolysis method which can be connected with PET resin production.
Explanation of Component References
1. PET fracture cleaning and separation unit
2. PET fracture storage silo
3. PET fracture depolymerization extruder
4. Mixing reactor for monomer production
5. Filtration reactor
6. Micro filtration
7. Monomer storage tanks
Explanation of process steps
101. Realize the process of washing, drying and sorting in the PET fracture cleaning and separation unit (1) and separate the metals and PP, PVC, PE and similar wastes outside of the PET and coloured PET fractures by the extraction process
102. Feed the cleaned and extracted PET fractures continuously into the PET fracture depolymerization extruder (3) by taking them in the PET fracture storage silo (2).
103. Lower the melted PET resin viscosity in a very short time by PET fracture depolymerization extruder (3)
104. Ensure the complete conversion to the monomers by treating the melt with ethylene glycol in controlled ratios in the mixing reactor (4) for monomer production
105. Pump the resulting monomer into the filtration reactor (5)
106. Mix the monomer with a suitable filtration agent in the filtration reactor (5)
107. Pump and filter the monomer treated with filtration agent to heated microfiltration (6)
108. Pump the monomer into the monomer storage tank (7) after ensuring the quality of the filtered monomer
Explanation of the Invention in Detail
In this detailed explanation, preferred alternatives of the chemical glycolysis method in which the transparent PET wastes are recycled for use in the production of the bottle-grade PET resin in the invention are described so as to provide a better understanding of the subject and without making any limiting effects.
In addition, some elements or process steps prepared to provide a better understanding of the invention may have been used in various ways to ensure meaning integrity within the sentences. The elements or process steps used in the various expressions actually represent the same numbered element or process step.
Figure 1 shows the schematic view of the system in which the chemical glycolysis method is applied.
PET bottles, which can be in contact with food, are obtained through the chemical glycolysis method using any type of transparent PET waste which can be connected to the production of the bottle-grade PET resin in the invention.
The first step of the method is the process of cleaning of PET fractures in PET fracture cleaning and separation unit (1). This stage is very important to ensure the final product quality. In order to separate all other impurities from PET fractures, the washing, drying and sorting process in the PET fracture cleaning and separating unit (1) is applied and metals and PP, PVC, PE and similar wastes outside of the PET and coloured PET fractures are separated by sorting process (101).
Cleaned and extracted PET fractures are continuously fed into the PET fracture depolymerization extruder (3) by taking them into the PET fracture storage silo (2) (102). PET fractures depolymerization extruder (3) is the most important equipment for melting the PET fractures and initiating depolymerization. Melted PET resin viscosity in a very short time by PET fracture depolymerization extruder (3) is reduced from 0,78dl/g to below 0,25dl/g (103). Rapid depolymerization process protects the molten polymer from thermal degradation and undesired reactions. Melt is fully transformed into monomers with viscosity less than 0,12 dl/g through the mixing reactor (4) for the production of monomer (104). Bis (2-hydroxy ethyl) terephthalate (BHET) ie complete depolymerization process to the monomer level is required for micro-filtration (6). This process is accomplished by treating the melt in lowered viscosity with ethylene glycol in controlled ratios in the mixing reactor (4) for monomer production. The resulting monomer is pumped into the filtration reactor (5) to be subjected to a filtration of less than 5 microns (105). Process continues by mixing the monomer with a suitable filtration agent in the filtration reactor (5) (106). Microfiltration (6) is the most important step in providing the monomer required for PET resin production, which can be in contact with food. Monomer is filtered in micro filtration (6) heated by heat transfer oil (107). All impurities greater than 5 microns are filtered and removed from the monomer with this filter. Monomer is pumped into the monomer storage tank (7) after ensuring the quality of the filtered monomer (108).
Two monomer storage tanks (7) are used to ensure continuous monomer feed into the PET polymerization esterification reactor. One of the monomer storage tanks (7) is used to feed into PET polymerisation esterification reactor for use in PET resin production while the other monomer storage tank (7) is used to store the monomer coming from micro filtration (6).