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Can We Remake Plastic Waste Into Rocket Fuel?

Everything that is sub-orbital or beyond.
 

bearnard95 09 Jun 21, 07:19Post
Have you heard about the new special type of rocket fuel that is made from plastic waste? One company uses particular kinds of plastic to remake them in rocket fuel
JLAmber (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 13 Jun 21, 19:07Post
There's a company in Antigua who are using ocean plastic and the vast blooms of Sargassum to produce a fuel that is super efficient and virtually free to source. Currently only used for burner stoves and industrial applications but I could see that being used to fuel vehicles of some description eventually.
A million great ideas...
GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 14 Jun 21, 00:47Post
With the amount of plastic in the Pacific...

Trick is how much fuel would be needed to collect and transport to Antigua?
Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey
bearnard95 14 Jun 21, 07:57Post
JLAmber wrote:There's a company in Antigua who are using ocean plastic and the vast blooms of Sargassum to produce a fuel that is super efficient and virtually free to source. Currently only used for burner stoves and industrial applications but I could see that being used to fuel vehicles of some description eventually.

I`ve heard about rocket fuel that is remade completely from plastic waste. However,I wanna add that the type of rocket fuel I`ve mentioned can be remade only from particular types of plastic. The following types of plastic can be converted into ecosene fuel: Polypropylene (PP). Polyester (PE). Polystyrene (PS) and its mixtures and analogs
bearnard95 14 Jun 21, 10:19Post
Also, I wanna add that ecosene rocket fuel ( remade from plastic ) was tested and the results of the test have shown that it`s 1% - 3% better than kerosene by its energy characteristics. But I am not sure if it`s possible to use the new rocket fuel in long space journeys.
Queso (netAirspace ATC Tower Chief & Founding Member) 14 Jun 21, 11:45Post
It's a false economy. Why would you waste energy to convert something to a fuel when it was created from a fuel anyway? There are HUGE inefficiencies in doing so, just use proven fuels in the first place because they are the most efficient we have available and it's better for the environment because fuel is not wasted in converting it to fuel.

It's not like the rocket industry is using a large percentage of the world's fuel supply anyway.
Slider... <sniff, sniff>... you stink.
bearnard95 16 Jun 21, 07:23Post
Queso wrote:It's a false economy. Why would you waste energy to convert something to a fuel when it was created from a fuel anyway? There are HUGE inefficiencies in doing so, just use proven fuels in the first place because they are the most efficient we have available and it's better for the environment because fuel is not wasted in converting it to fuel.

It's not like the rocket industry is using a large percentage of the world's fuel supply anyway.

We have tons and tons of plastic waste all around the globe. Why don`t we just remake it into something useful and this plastic waste can be used with the purpose?
Queso (netAirspace ATC Tower Chief & Founding Member) 16 Jun 21, 16:10Post
bearnard95 wrote:
Queso wrote:It's a false economy. Why would you waste energy to convert something to a fuel when it was created from a fuel anyway? There are HUGE inefficiencies in doing so, just use proven fuels in the first place because they are the most efficient we have available and it's better for the environment because fuel is not wasted in converting it to fuel.

It's not like the rocket industry is using a large percentage of the world's fuel supply anyway.

We have tons and tons of plastic waste all around the globe. Why don`t we just remake it into something useful and this plastic waste can be used with the purpose?


Because...
Queso wrote:It's a false economy. Why would you waste energy to convert something to a fuel when it was created from a fuel anyway? There are HUGE inefficiencies in doing so, just use proven fuels in the first place because they are the most efficient we have available and it's better for the environment because fuel is not wasted in converting it to fuel.

It's not like the rocket industry is using a large percentage of the world's fuel supply anyway.


It would cost more financially and use MORE energy to convert it than to use virgin fuels. You can't argue with physics, any time you change a form of energy from one to another, you lose energy.

A good example of this is wind turbines. It takes a LOT of petroleum-based energy to build, construct, create infrastructure for, and support them, but over their life expectancy they never come close to making enough power to pay for themselves without government subsidies. If the same amount was spent on infrastructure for natural gas powered generating plants, they would last decades longer and generally are profitable within 3-5 years.

The same situation occurs in this example, deriving the fuels contained in the plastics will require more energy than will be extracted from them. Period. You're better off using that energy to fuel the rocket directly.

Oh yeah, it makes great press and it FEELS good to think we're making the planet better by getting rid of the evil plastics that are choking the oceans, but seriously, it's better for the planet overall to simply gather them and dispose of them in an efficient way.

Why do you suppose we're not all jetting around the globe on used cooking oil-powered airliners? Because even on a large scale, it still is not financially viable to do so. Petroleum is (and will continue to be) the way to go, and for a good reason. Per BTU/$, it is simply the most efficient fuel. And I've heard for over 40 years that we're running out, yet new sources of it and new ways to extract it are developed every single day. There's enough petroleum fuel available for at least your grandkid's kids.
Slider... <sniff, sniff>... you stink.
GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 16 Jun 21, 18:13Post
Getting way OT here but has anyone ever looked at the foundations required for a windmill? :|

Forget it...windmills aren't green. At all.
Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey
Mark 16 Jun 21, 20:02Post
GQfluffy wrote:
Forget it...windmills aren't green. At all.


I see what you did there.
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