Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the chemical process of separating materials into their constituent parts.

The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements pyro “fire” and lysis “separating”.

The technology is not overly complicated: plastics are shredded and then heated in an oxygen-free chamber (the pyrolysis reactor) to about 400 degrees celsius.

Essentially pyrolysis involves the rapid thermochemical decomposition of compounds under pressure at high operating temperatures in the absence of oxygen to produce liquids and gas, leaving a solid residue (char) rich in carbon.

In our case, the liquid is premium grade oil.

As the plastics boil, gas recovered from the waste plastic feedstock is separated out and reused as a heating source within our processing system to fuel the machine itself. Any build-up of unused propane equivalent gas is burnt off as it exits the flare stack via an automatic release system.

Any remaining solid residue, in the form of char, is recovered via a built-in discharge system. This by-product can be compressed into briquettes and sold for domestic heating purposes or applied in the industrial context as a coal replacement fuel source to power gasifiers, boilers and the like.

ECI pyrolysis technology is an environmentally-friendly process, whereby emissions are maintained at minimal levels and only a negligible amount of pollutants are generated from the system. Because the entire process takes place inside a vacuum and the plastic is melted - not burned - virtually no toxins are released into the air.

Given the plastic we use every day is derived from fossil fuels, such as oil and gas, and as such contains huge amounts of stored energy which simply goes to waste when it's thrown away, wouldn't it be great if we could capture all of this energy and re-use it?

That's essentially what ECI pyrolysis technology does. Our reactor converts waste plastic into oil, gas and char – through a process of thermal cracking in a vacuum, extracting the hydrocarbons embedded in petroleum-based plastic feedstock.

Roughly around 75 percent of what goes into the processing unit is successfully converted into premium crude oil which, in turn, is refined to produce high grade diesel and other petroleum products.

In the case of our Series 10 System, for example, this model has a capacity to process 10 ton (1,000 kg) of waste plastic each day, for a yield of 7,500 litres of high quality oil output.