For an overview of how our rotating equipment portfolio supports Advanced Recycling processes, please refer to our market brochure.
What is Advanced Recycling?
Advanced Recycling is a set of processes that use thermochemical reactions to break plastics down into liquid or gas molecules, which can then be used as a feedstock for new products.
Advanced recycling is important because it promotes a circular economy in two key ways:
- Expands scope of waste that can be recycled: Advanced recycling expands the types of plastics that can be recovered, when compared to traditional mechanical recycling.
- Improves quality of recovered products: Advanced recycling recovers the molecular building blocks of waste plastic. These raw materials can then be used as a feedstock for new products – including new virgin plastics or hydrocarbon fuels of the same quality and composition as the original product.
Why is Advanced Recycling important?
The world is using more plastic than ever. There is approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic waste generated every year . Some forecasts suggest that volume could triple by 2050 with economic growth and increases in global population. Due to limitations of traditional recycling, approximately 85% of plastic used today ends up in a landfill and roughly 98% is originally made from “virgin” fossil fuel feedstock1.
For these reasons, the plastic industry contributes significant GHG emissions for new plastic production, while also causing environmental damage due to the large volume of plastic waste that ends up flowing into the environment.
Direct methods of reducing consumption of plastic products and eliminating single-use plastic products are two primary ways of addressing plastic pollution. Advanced Recycling offers an additional solution by increasing the amount of waste than can be recycled, which offsets some demand for new fossil plastic production and reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, waterways or the ocean.
What processes are used in Advanced Recycling?
There are 3 main categories of advanced recycling processes:
- Gasification: break-down plastic under high temperatures (ranging from 500 to 1,300°C) in the presence of oxygen and/or steam to produce syngas
- Pyrolysis: break-down plastic under high temperatures (ranging from 300 to 900°C) with little or no oxygen present to produce pyrolysis oil
- Depolymerization (or Chemolysis): chemical treatment to convert plastics, typically polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste, into monomers using a solvent (e.g. the reverse of polymerization)
The choice of technology and process is driven by the composition of the plastic waste feedstock and the new end-product that is desired.
What pumps and compressors are used in Advanced Recycling?
Advanced Recycling processes can involve high heat, chemical treatment, and product recovery, and upgrading. Sundyne has 75 years of experience providing critical rotating equipment to heavy industrial and hydrocarbon processing facilities and is building on this experience to provide high-quality equipment for advanced recycling processes. By providing both pumps and compressors, Sundyne offers the unique ability to be a comprehensive OEM for advanced recycling facilities. We are working with technology licensors, EPCs, and recycling companies to provide solutions in this industry.
For additional information and to see an overview of where our rotating equipment portfolio fits into Advanced Recycling process flow diagrams, refer to our market brochure.
PPI Compressors
Experience unmatched reliability and leak-free operation with Sundyne’s PPI diaphragm compressors, engineered to provide ultra-pure compression for hydrocarbon products and critical gases. Ideal for applications requiring small flow rates and high pressures, diaphragm compressor technology stands alone in delivering superior performance where other volumetric compressors fall short. The sealed design ensures exceptional safety and minimal maintenance, with no lubrication required on the gas side, making it an optimal choice for demanding industrial environments.
Sundyne Compressors
Developed from more than 70 years of technological advancement and with 5,000 units installed worldwide, Sundyne’s latest generation of integrally geared compressors delivers the industry’s best engineered-for-reliability solution for the Energy, Petrochemical, Chemical and General Industry sectors. Designed to meet API-617 and related standards for mission-critical applications, our solution ensures up to 7 years of continuous operation – minimizing downtime, maximizing performance and delivering oil-free process gas with zero emissions.
Sundyne LMV Pumps
Sundyne integrally geared centrifugal pumps are optimized for low flow-high head applications. They offer the highest efficiency in the low flow range with a proven track record of high reliability. A single impeller in a Sundyne LMV pump spins at high speed to produce the same head as a multistage pump running at synchronous speed. Sundyne LMV pumps are ideally suited for services such as boiler feed water pumps, condensate transfer pumps, solvent circulation pumps and reflux pumps. To achieve higher heads yet, two or more integrally geared stages run in series in a Sundyne HMP pump. The compact design reduces installation cost, and the simplicity limits the number of spare parts while making maintenance easier.
Sealless Magnetic Drive Pumps – HMD and ANSIMAG
Sundyne sealless pumps provide optimum safety and environmental protection for a wide range of applications found within Advanced Plastic Recycling. These magnetic driven pumps are designed for harsh and hazardous liquids, and applications that are difficult to seal. HMD Kontro metallic and Ansimag ETFE-lined sealless pumps ensure total product containment, increased reliability and uptime and simplified maintenance with no seals or seal support systems, whilst meeting industry standards such as ASME, ISO and API.
Marelli Pumps
Marelli pumps leverage a track record of more than 60 years in centrifugal pump design, development, manufacturing and service, to fulfill the latest standards for oil & gas, petrochemical and clean energy markets. Marelli pumps are designed for extreme reliability and a wide range of flow rates, to accommodate the most stringent customer specifications.
Sunflo Pumps
Industrial grade Sunflo pumps are specifically designed for low flow-high head applications such as boiler feed water, condensate, demineralized water circulation. Sunflo pumps leverage the engineering knowledge and legacy of the Sundyne heavy duty API integrally geared pumps. A single impeller runs at high speed to produce high heads in a very compact and reliable design. The close coupled configuration eliminates alignment, simplifies installation while further reducing footprint. The Sunflo cartridge shaft assembly comes complete with all the rotating parts and enables quick and easy servicing of the pump in-place.
To learn more about how Sundyne’s pumps & compressors are supporting Advanced Recycling around the globe, or to speak with a Sundyne representative about a project opportunity, please contact us.
1 United Nations Environment Programme. Beat Plastic Polluion. www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution
