About us
Espace utilisateur
Education
INSTN offers more than 40 diplomas from operator level to post-graduate degree level. 30% of our students are international students.
Professionnal development
Professionnal development
Find a training course
INSTN delivers off-the-self or tailor-made training courses to support the operational excellence of your talents.
Human capital solutions
At INSTN, we are committed to providing our partners with the best human capital solutions to develop and deliver safe & sustainable projects.
Thesis
Home   /   Post Doctorat   /   Development of an innovative way of end-of-life plastics recycling by hydrothermal depolymerization

Development of an innovative way of end-of-life plastics recycling by hydrothermal depolymerization

Engineering sciences Green and decarbonated energy incl. bioprocesses and waste valorization Mechanics, energetics, process engineering Technological challenges

Abstract

End of life plastics are scarcely recycled due to technical, health or structural constraints. To address this issue, a solvolysis route may be considered in order to recover monomers or other valuable molecules. Although good results are obtained after polymers sorting, this method remains sensitive to the composition of incoming flows, as well as the presence of contaminants. The Supercritical and Decontamination Processes Laboratory has developed an original depolymerization method in hydrothermal conditions (150 to 300°C and autogenous pressure) allowing to consider treatment of a mixture of end of life polymers (PET, PU, PC, PE, PVC). A parametric study will be carried out on a mixture of polymers of known composition by studying the influence of process parameters on the composition of the aqueous and organic phases, to define performance criteria such as conversion and depolymerization yields. Several end-of-life plastic wastes, alone or in a mixture, will be considered, to highlight a possible synergistic effect on the recovery of all or part of the recoverable monomers or products. Finally, an energy and mass balance will be implemented to study the complete life cycle of the process and to evaluate the relevance of the depolymerization process in hydrothermal conditions.

Laboratory

Département de recherche sur les procédés pour la mine et le recyclage du combustible
Service des Technologies Durables pour le Cycle des matières
Laboratoire des procédés supercritiques et de décontamination
Top envelopegraduation-hatlicensebookuserusersmap-markercalendar-fullbubblecrossmenuarrow-down