Maybe the $2.5M price tag isn't so bad after all i

Maybe the $2.5M price tag isn't so bad after all if they are charging so much for catalyst. It's sort of like when your cellular company gives you a $700 phone for only $50 because they are charging you higher monthly rates to make up for it.

PTOI's catalytic cracking process uses a catalyst containing zeolite as mentioned in their patent document.
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDet...cale=en_EP

Although PTOI did not provide ratios of catalyst to plastic in their patent app, I found many other documents and studies that did. They also use zeolite, so how different could PTOI's be from this? I would assume the ratios are very similar.

The ratio P2O uses is likely around 1:6 catalyst to plastic.

If the customer runs the processor at 2000lb/hour at 80% uptime for a year, that's over 14,000,000 lbs of plastic processed. At $.50/lb for catalyst, the customer pays PTOI $1.17M per year per processor. That could mean huge profits down the line after multiple sales.

The thing that has me worried right now though is the price of oil. To be a profitable process, I think they need to be able to sell No.2 fuel oil closer to $2/gallon. Right now it is about $1.70/gallon because of the oil crash. But, if the customer is more interested in responsible recycling than turning a profit, it shouldn't be an issue.

I hope Rick touches on this subject in Monday's PR.




This study called for a 1:5 ratio of catalyst:plastic.

Quote:

---

As a result, in the closed-end thermal cracking tube 41, 5 g of the high-density polyethylene 60 is subjected to thermal cracking into thermal cracking gas. When the thermal cracking gas is delivered into the flask 46 from interior of the closed-end thermal cracking tube 41 via the duct 45, the thermal cracking gas is cooled in the duct 45 and the flask 46 so as to be liquefied into liquefied product 62 such that the liquefied product 62 remains in the flask 46. Through stirring effected by the stirrer 51, the liquefied product 62 in the flask 46 is mixed with the catalyst 61 formed by 1 g of synthetic zeolite used as builder for synthetic detergent so as to cause a liquid phase cracking reaction by action of the catalyst 61. Thus, cracking gas produced by the liquid phase cracking reaction of the liquefied product 62 is obtained in the flask 46 so as to be led to the duct 53A of the cooler 53. Therefore, the cracking gas from the flask 46 is cooled into low-boiling hydrocarbon oil by the cooler 53. The low-boiling hydrocarbon oil is further collected into the neutralization and oil separation bottle 54 via the duct 53A of the cooler 53. As a result, in the neutralization and oil separation bottle 54, a layer of 20% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution 56, a layer of low-boiling hydrocarbon oil 63 and a layer of unreactive cracking gas component 64 are formed sequentially upwardly in this order from a bottom of the neutralization and oil separation bottle 54.

---

http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDet...cale=en_EP

This study suggests a 1:6 ratio.

Quote:

---

Feedstock recycling of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) over fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts (1:6 ratio) was carried out using a laboratory fluidized bed reactor operating at 450 degrees C.

---

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16760091/

This study suggests a ratio between 1:10 and 2:1 for catalyst:plastic.

Quote:

---

In the present invention, it is also effective to add a catalyst to the waste plastic in order to accelerate the decomposition reaction. One or more catalyst is preferably selected from nickel oxide, ferric oxide, cobalt oxide, copper oxide, manganese dioxide, silica, zirconium oxide (zirconia) and titanium dioxide (titania) in accordance with a kind and a property of the plastic to be treated. By addition of the catalyst, an amount of ingredients of a low molecular weight in the recovered oil increases, and the molecular weight spread of the produced ingredients is narrowed, so that the quality of the obtained oil product can be improved. The catalyst is preferably used at an amount within a range of 10 to 200% by weight relative to the amount of the plastic to be treated.

---

http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDet...cale=en_EP