Polystyrene can be dissolved in biodiesel, boosts power and emissions
Polystyrene is pretty much an environmentalist's nightmare. It's difficult to recycle in most areas and does not biodegrade if simply thrown away. But, because the stuff is so incredibly useful, it is produced and used in tremendous quantities. There's good news for biodiesel fans who want to reduce the amount of polystyrene in the environment and want to get a bit more kick out of their biofuel.
Two researchers at Iowa State University, Najeeb Kuzhiyil and Song-Charng Kong, have found that it is easy to dissolve packing peanuts into biodiesel; the enhanced biodiesel then produced more power in a diesel engine, as long as the polystyrene makes up no more than five percent of the biodiesel. The downside is that harmful emissions also increased. This is not too surpising, since petroleum is often used to make the styrofoam in the first place. According to Kong, quoted in New Scientist, the polystyrene cups dissolved quickly in biodiesel, "like a snowflake in water."
[Source: Energy & Fuels via New Scientist]
Photo by complexify. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Carney 11:19AM (5/04/2009)
Polystyrene can also be relatively easily and cheaply made into methanol.
Methanol can be used either directly as a light-duty (cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, vans, etc) vehicle fuel in conveniently gasoline-compatible flex-fuel vehicles, or made into di methyl ether (DME) by reacting it to itself.
DME can in turn then be used as a diesel fuel for heavy duty vehicles (ships, trains, trailer-trucks) that emits NO smoke, soot, or particulate matter (SSPM), in contrast to biodiesel which emits 70-75% as much SSPM as petro-diesel.
Or, DME can be used as a feedstock to make polyethylene or polypropylene, the two bases for the vast majority of plastics, which will help free us from petroleum for not only fuel but also plastics.
Clearly a much better strategy than the one in this article.
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paulwesterberg 11:46AM (5/04/2009)
> The downside is that harmful emissions also increased.
If baby kittens could power our cars we would probably burn them too.
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Prinn 11:59AM (5/04/2009)
So easy a sixth grader can do it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjKYuD_AlY&feature=related
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:18PM (5/04/2009)
Polystyrene isn't difficult to recycle, it's just that the pieces are so large and (relatively) heavy and the results of the recycling are so near valueless that it's not cost-effective to recycle it.
The increase in NOx and soot pretty much makes this unworkable I would think. Maybe someone else can refine the process to eliminate this drawback.
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Noz 12:49PM (5/04/2009)
"Polystyrene isn't difficult to recycle, it's just that the pieces are so large and (relatively) heavy and the results of the recycling are so near valueless that it's not cost-effective to recycle it."
What are you saying? There should be no cost associated with a clean environment?
SteveCT 2:26PM (5/04/2009)
What are YOU saying? People should recycle the stuff purely out of the goodness of their hearts? Or that we the taxpayers should pony up the cash necessary to do this, when we have a very long list of more important things to do with government money?
I don't know that the increased emissions necessarily make this unworkable. Automakers are consistently improving the emissions of diesel vehicles, and maybe exhaust-cleaning technologies can mitigate the emissions issues here.
why not the LS2LS7? 4:52PM (5/04/2009)
Noz: you have me all wrong. I'm not making a judgment here, just explaining the technical aspects.
bruce 2:25PM (5/04/2009)
I'm not brave enough to try this until someone determines the long-term effect it has on the synthetic rubber seals and hoses in the fuel system.
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Allan 5:02PM (5/04/2009)
aww, come on...just go for it! Do like I did and buy an old Benz for $2500 and see what happens. Worst case the engine completely fails in a year but so what? You get bragging rights and you break even or better on the cost from using home-brewed biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil.
EV-1 5:58AM (5/05/2009)
An explicit illustration of the Eternal Dilema of humankind ;
Able ______________
but
Unwise ______________
God Help Us
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