Fluidized Bed Reactor Application for Catalytic Pyrolysis of Waste Plastic

Plastics are found in almost all products today, and more than 300 million metric tons of plastic waste are produced each year. Due to its characteristic biodegradation properties, post-consumer plastic management is a great challenge in today’s world. Encina has developed a novel fluidized bed catalytic pyrolysis reaction system to convert post-consumer plastic to valuable products, such as light olefins and BTX aromatics. Determining reactor design and fluidization regime is essential to providing a sustainable and efficient plastic treatment. Proprietary internals are investigated at Particulate Solid Research Inc. (PSRI) to ensure high heat transfer rates and uniform bed temperatures. The optimal fluidization regime determines which geometry provides sufficient mass transfer and exhibits desired reaction parameters. Barracuda Virtual Reactor is used for CFD simulation of particle fluidization and chemical reaction. Computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) enables a fast simulation method and stable multiphase flow coupling solution. The simulation results are used to guide reactor design and operation regime selection.

About the Speaker
Song Wang is the Technology Team Lead for the Encina Development Group. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. His experience includes development and characterization of multi-functional particles as well as extensive research experience of powder particles in combustion dynamics and ignition kinetics. During his PhD career, he has built a 3D-CFD modeling of a complex flow system and developed a theoretical model to describe the performance of new reactive materials quantitatively. He has authored 12 publications related to biocidal, metal combustion and material synthesis.