Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) students have developed a tool to convert anorganic waste such as plastic waste into bio oil and biogas.
The instrument called AL-Production is made by Mechanic Engineering and Forestry students Yanditya Affan Almada and Refandy Dwi Darmawan.
“We develop a technology that can convert inorganic waste like plastic into fuel through a pyrolysis process,” said Affan on Wednesday (31/7) in a press conference at UGM.
The students employed a pyrolysis process to heat the plastic without oxygen in a certain temperature and distillation techniques. A pipe is connected to an airtight, high pressure tube made of stainless steel. Energy resources use electricity to act as a heater.
“We used fire energy resources initially but the temperature could not be controlled. So later we use electricity and the results are more optimal,” said Affan.
First, the plastic waste is put in the airtight tube and heated up to 450-550 C degrees. After 30 minutes, oil drips through the tube.
Affan had produced 6 heaters since starting the research in 2015 while in high school. In 2017 he made a small tool with a capacity of 2 – 3 liters selling at Rp20 million. Affan also once made a medium-size tool with a capacity of 10 liters which costs Rp35 million.
Affan said the tool uses electricity for heating. Other tools available in the market use fire energy, which makes it hard to control the temperature.
“There are heating devices abroad, but they are just for heating or material testing. Our tool is equipped with a distillator that can be used for the pyrolysis process to convert the plastic waste into fuel,” he said.
Currently, Affan continues to develop the tool after having received grants and mentoring from the UGM Student Program for Entrepreneurship.
“I hope this tool can be a solution to plastic waste problems in Indonesia,” he said.
