Posted on 06/26/2007 2:48:23 PM PDT by blam
Giant microwave turns plastic back to oil
17:44 26 June 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic
A US company is taking plastics recycling to another level – turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas.
All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and – hey presto! – a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).
Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas.
GRC's machine is called the Hawk-10. Its smaller incarnations look just like an industrial microwave with bits of machinery attached to it. Larger versions resemble a concrete mixer.
"Anything that has a hydrocarbon base will be affected by our process," says Jerry Meddick, director of business development at GRC, based in New Jersey. "We release those hydrocarbon molecules from the material and it then becomes gas and oil."
Whatever does not have a hydrocarbon base is left behind, minus any water it contained as this gets evaporated in the microwave.
Simplified recycling
"Take a piece of copper wiring," says Meddick. "It is encased in plastic – a kind of hydrocarbon material. We release all the hydrocarbons, which strips the casing off the wire." Not only does the process produce fuel in the form of oil and gas, it also makes it easier to extract the copper wire for recycling.
(Excerpt) Read more at environment.newscientist.com ...
I look forward to the demonstration project. Necessity truly is the mother of invention.
Cool stuff. Kinda Back to the Future 2-ish, eh?
Suck it, OPEC!
Can it be used as a weapon? Imagine melting enemy vehicles or equipment.
Can it be used as a weapon? Imagine melting enemy vehicles or equipment.
Beyond the Veba unit.
Now we’ll have to have studies, grants, focus-group-tested slogans, CONgressional panels, lobbying efforts, outsourcing to Bangladesh, global warming protests, global cooling to counter the global warming...
We MIGHT see practical application of this technology when Chelsea’s cloned daughter receives her lifetime SCOTUS appointment.
This is interesting and much more useful than my microwave that excels in turning popcorn into carbon. If the government would give me huge subsidies for doing it, I’d be singing a different tune...
If they have one rated for home use, I’d buy one!
“Can it be used as a weapon?”
Burnt Popcorn extract, overwhelms the enemy’s senses.
Hmmm. Fire Department is at the front door, BBL....
I would suggest the first major, huge...or is that hugh?.. trial be done on Congress.
Melt them down.
I bet he hasn't actually TRIED this yet. Maybe he should stick a spoon in his fancy microwave and see what happens first...
Damn, you beat me to it. That’s the reply I was going to post.
All Washington wants to know...Can it be Taxed?
http://www.globalresourcecorp.com/
Welcome to Global Resource Corporation
Global Resource Corporation is a Worldwide Petroleum Research, Engineering, Development, and Manufacturing Company that thinks outside the box and is responsible for bringing innovation and new technologies to the petrochemical industries where we offer many proprietary solutions in Enhanced Oil & Energy Recovery Processes.
Click on any of the sections below to learn more about our unique energy recovery applications.
Process explained by GRC’s Chief Engineer and why our innovative patent pending technologies are different from any and all others.
To everything there is a frequency that excites its molecules best. Just like the 2450MHz frequency magnetron in your kitchen microwave oven which is specific to water (H2O) molecules, GRC’s hydrocarbon specific frequencies are generated by much higher RF klystrons that actually crack the hydrocarbon chain into its characteristic fuels.
By definition it is not pyrolysis because cracking the hydrocarbon chain is inherent to specific frequencies and has little to do with the amount of heat generated. The process however is done without water and performed in an oxygen starved environment. We call this technology: High-Frequency Attenuating Wave Kinetics or HAWK for short.
There is also no CO2 or CO produced in the process because there is no oxidation other than possibly a miniscule amount that may be pre-existing in the material or minerals processed. GRC’s vacuum environment creates an accelerated pressure thereby assimilating what Mother Nature has done through countless years to make fuels.
The two basic elements offered for all GRC’s applications are insitu and offsitu. We have designed klystron machinery for gasifying hydrocarbons where they exist or in fabricated systems. In-situ meaning processed deep in the ground, rock formations or anywhere naturally occurring and off-situ meaning processed above ground that is mined or material removed from site.
A klystron is a microwave electron tube with velocity modulation that is different from magnetrons. Its uses were privy to military applications for radar jamming before stealth technologies became more dominant in later years. GRC is the first to commercialize this technology and by modifying amplifiers and power supplies to suit our applications, we now possess the technology that will free America from foreign oil imports
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