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• silage films – to aid fermentation of biomass for animal fodder and avoid the need for storage buildings;
• bottles – to transport liquid pesticides and fertilisers to nurseries and fields;
• coatings on fertilisers, pesticides and seeds to control the rate of release of chemicals or improve germination;
• non-woven protective textiles or “fleece” – to protect crops from extreme cold and/or sunlight;
• fruit protectors – bags, sheaths, and nets, sometimes impregnated with pesticides to cover and protect fruit from insect and weather damage;
• plant protectors – to protect young seedlings/ saplings against damage by animals and provide a microclimate that enhances growth; and
• nets, ropes, lines, traps and enclosures – to catch and farm fish and other aquatic species.
Pyrolysis is one common technique used to convert a wide range of plastics into a complex mixture of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, and aromatics that can be further used in traditional petrochemical processes [2], see Figure 2. Another possibility is catalytic hydrogenolysis that uses hydrogen to cleave carbon- carbon bonds producing predominantly alkanes [3,4]. Unfortunately, so far, these processes have not been economically competitive with traditional crude oil processing due to relatively low crude oil prices. However, the situation is gradually changing thanks to the introduction of carbon credits.
The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process is the basis for nearly all technological processes dealing with conversion of natural gas and coal to more valuable liquid hydrocarbons. In the past decades, lubricating
oils derived from FT waxes started to gain interest. Unfortunately, the availability of FT waxes is rather limited to cover market needs. Another serious concern is the heavy carbon footprint of such processes. In such a situation, waste plastic avails itself as a perfect substitute for FT and slack waxes from petroleum refining, leading the way to a truly sustainable process with a greatly reduced carbon footprint and environmental impact: instead of dumping waste plastic to landfills, we can convert it into value-added products.
KATA have developed our innovative way to chemically upcycle agricultural plastic waste at scale with a high throughput energy efficient process. KATA technology allows one to convert PE and PP (polyethylene and polypropylene) agricultural waste plastic into high quality sustainable fuels, solvents and base oils in a highly cost-efficient way. The yield of value-added products is close to 80%. The actual partitioning of individual products depends on process conditions. Thus, one can prioritise the production of fuel, the production of oil and wax, the production of solvents, etc.
Originating from a non-petroleum feedstock, KATA products contain virtually no aromatic and naphthenic molecules, being largely composed of normal and iso-paraffins. They combine good low temperature flow properties and oxidation stability. Compared to traditional mineral oils, KATA oils have more narrow molecular weights and boiling points distribution, as distillation curves indicate (Figure 3). Lighter fractions (200 to 300°C boiling point range), can be used to produce sustainable premium diesel. As the chemical composition is concerned, sustainable diesel produced
Figure 2: Upcycling of waste plastic (Courtesy of BlueAlp Holding BV) *KATA first production plant is located in in Central America, one of the epicenters of world agriculture.
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LUBE MAGAZINE NO.179 FEBRUARY 2024
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