Industrial prodaction and sustainable development -PROJECT-

2014

Lectures: Students:Prof. Dr. Biolog Camelia Smaranda Caplat Cătălina

Buburuzan Dorin

Plesca Bogdan

„Gheorghe Asachi”, Technical University of Iași

Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection

Domain: Environmental EngineeringSpecialization: Environmental

Management and Sustainable Energy

THE EVLUATION OF „PLASTIC INDUSTRIAL PROCESS” USING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

PET BOTTELS PROCESS

General information on process/industry

The plastics industry is divided into two broad sectors: raw material suppliers who produce polymers and resins from intermediates, and processors who convert these materials into finished items.

Plastics are synthetic substances produced by chemical reactions. Almost all plastics are made from petroleum, except a few experimental resins derived from corn and other organic substances.

The monomers of petrochemical plastics are inorganic materials (such as styrene) and are not biodegradable

ApplicationsPlastics are versatile materials and are

used to fabricate an enormous array of products. The development of plastics has replaced nearly every other traditional material—including wood, stone, leather, glass, and ceramics—in many applications. The most common uses for plastic include:

•Packaging: bottles, food packaging, equipment cases

•Building materials: pipes and plumbing, siding

•Automobiles: numerous components•Furniture•Toys

PLASTIC BOTTLES A plastic bottle is a container constructed of plastic, with a neck

that is narrower than its body and an opening at the top. The mouth of the bottle is normally sealed with a plastic bottle cap. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink.

Industrial process description

Before the Bottle is Made Before a plastic bottle can

be manufactured, the PET must be made. PET is a polymer that is made from petroleum hydrocarbons. It comes from a reaction between terephthalic acide and ethylene glycol.

The process to make PET is called polymerization.

Fig. 1 System Flow Diagram of PET process

Making the Bottle The process to make PET bottles is called stretch blow molding. PET pellets are injection-molded in a thin-walled plastic tube. The tube is then cooled and cut into shorter lengths. Each length of tube is inserted into a mold that is shaped like the bottle the manufacturer wants to create The bottle bottom is made from a separate mold during the process and attached later.

Finishing the Bottle The mold is then cooled quickly to keep any of the PET from flowing inside the mold. The bottle is then removed from the mold and trimmed to remove and PET that leaked through cracks in the mold. The bottles are then packaged and sent to the company that ordered them.

Process Flow Diagram

Imputs, outputs and consumtion (energy, water, raw materials)

The main output from a plastic bottles process is of course the product, which represents approximately 70 % of the raw material input.

Process inputsThe Elements: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics are formed from the combination of two monomers, ethylene glycol and terephthoyl chloride.Petrochemical Raw Materials: are petroleum (oil) and natural gasAdditives: Plasticizers, Antioxidants, Lubricants, Foaming agents, Flame retardants,

Colorants, Anti-stats Energy: According to the plastics manufacturing industry, it takes around 3.4 megajoules of energy to make a typical one-liter plastic bottle, cap, and packaging.The production of plastic uses an incredible amount of fossil fuels. Most estimates put the figure at around 8% of the world’s oil production, 4% of which is actually used in energy

consumption to make the plastic. To give you some idea, it takes about 1/4 of a litre of oil to produce a 1 litre water bottle

 

Emissions to airThere are multiple processes occurring at plastic products manufacturing

facilities that give rise to a wide variety of pollutants: making just one tonne of PET resin produces three tonnes of CO2, as well as arsenic, carbon monoxide, ethylene glycol, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur dioxide.

Other major emissions from plastic production processes include sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, methanol, ethylene oxide, and volatile organic compounds.• Volatile organic compound (VOC) and hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions

resulting from the volatilization of free monomer or solvent in the primary polymer blend during processing.

Emissions to waterEmissions from the moulding compound are released

into the air during the process. Oil leaks from the hydraulic systems may contaminate stormwater.

The use of solvents to clean dispensing equipment may generate liquid wastes that need special handling

Solid wasteThe most obvious form of pollution associated with

plastic packaging is wasted plastic sent to landfills. Plastics are very stable and therefore stay in the environment a long time after they are discarded, especially if they are shielded from direct sunlight by being buried in landfills. Decomposition rates are further decreased by anti-oxidants that manufacturers commonly add to enhance a container’s resistance to attack by acidic contents.

Hazardous and toxic substances

Manufacturing PET resin generates more toxic emissions (nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, benzene) than manufacturing glass. Producing a 16 oz. PET bottle generates more than 100 times the toxic emissions to air and water than making the same size bottle out of glass.

Producing plastics can be hazardous to workers, too. Serious accidents have included explosions, chemical fires, chemical spills, and clouds of toxic vapor. These kinds of occurrences have caused deaths, injuries, evacuations and major property damage.

Significant releases of toxic chemicals include:trichloroethaneacetonemethylene chloridemethyl ethyl ketonestyrenetoluenebenzene1,1,1 trichloroethane

Identification of pollution prevention option

EMISSIONS REDUCTIONThe reduction of emissions from

plastics processing operations is best achieved through carefully designed programs to optimize all aspects of the manufacturing process, particularly with respect to the use of raw materials including energy and water. Continuous improvement is best achieved through the implementation of an effective environmental management system..

AIR RESIDUALS – GASES AND DUSTGreenhouse gas emissions,

principally CO2, can be reduced by ongoing improvements in energy efficiency.

Volatile Organic Compounds Reduction The industry will proceed on two

parallel fronts. First, the industry will secure the acceptance and funding to pursue research into an alternative-blowing agent.

Second, the industry will further investigate possible methods to reduce the percentage of butane used in production.

Dust ReductionFugitive dust levels may also be

reduced through the use of collection systems located close to key locations within facilities, such as material handling areas and locationsdedicated to blending and grinding operations.

WASTEWATER AND LIQUID WASTESTypical preventive measures include

the following:• oil interceptors for plant discharges;• blocking building drains in areas where spills are likely; and• secondary containment for storage tanks.

Whenever possible, floor drains within the plant should be capped or sealed to contain minor spills

SOLID WASTEMany companies

already recycle packaging materials. Used gaylords are in demand by many industries for use as storage containers.

Substitution of critical raw materials

Taking into consideration that plastic is a petroleum-based product, recycling plastics reduces dependency on oil. Making plastic bottels from recycled materials, use only 40% of the energy needed to produce PET from crude oil

Waste management – recycle/reuse/recovery

Plastic wastes - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle of plastics are essential to make environment greener and safer. It has been observed, to reduce bad effects of waste plastics, it is better to recycle and re-utilize waste plastics in environment-friendly manners. As per statistics, about 80% of post-consumer plastic waste is sent to landfill, 8% is incinerated and only 7% is recycled. In addition to reducing the amount of plastics waste requiring disposal, recycling and reuse of plastic can have several advantages, such as:•Conservation of non-renewable fossil fuels – Plastic production uses 8% of the world’s oil production, 4% as feedstock and 4% during manufacture.•Reduced consumption of energy.•Reduced amounts of solid waste going to landfill.•Reduced emissions of carbon-dioxide (CO2), nitrogen-oxides (NOx) and sulfur-dioxide (SO2).

ConclusionsSustainable industrial production of plastic industry has great

advantages because it uses resources and energy more efficiently and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the production of plastic and its use affects less the environment.

Plastics can be more sustainable if they are made from recycled or bio-based plastics and are made with lower CO2 emissions and less solid waste. Sustainable green packaging can be certified with an audit process that calculates the life cycle assessment of the manufacturing process.

Thank you for your attention!