PLSM.6550 - Plastics Engineering: Advanced Plastic Recycling Methods
Program Overview
Overview
This seminar provides comprehensive information about advanced plastic recycling methods. Both traditional and emerging recycling methods will be highlighted. Accumulation of plastic waste in the natural environment and the toxicology of plastics as well as their additives will be discussed. Furthermore, analytical methods and instrumentation to characterize recycled plastics, and the differences in virgin polymers and recycled polymers will be reviewed. Regulation and policy relevant to plastic waste management will also be discussed. Classroom lectures cover the basics of the advanced recycling process and provide case studies that yield inspiration and can be applied in various plastic products.
Audience
This course is appropriate for plastics recyclers, plastic resin suppliers, sales and applications engineers, new product development specialists, product marketing professionals, product designers and engineers, industrial designers and industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, materials purchasing managers, manufacturing personnel and technicians, plant managers, production supervisors, quality assurance and quality control personnel, and anyone involved in sustainability. It will also benefit chemical companies and waste managers.
Content
Status-quo of the Plastic Recycling
- Introduction to plastic materials; definition of sustainability in plastic manufacturing; toxicology of plastic pollutants; micro-/nano-plastics; primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary recycling methods.
Mechanical Recycling of Plastics
- Sorting and separation techniques; polymer additives; methods to characterize recycled polymers; ASTM standards; certification of recycled contents; polymer property characterization; manufacturers or products made from recycled contents; relevant regulatory discussion.
Solvent-based Recycling of Plastics
- Solvent-based dissolution-precipitation; extraction; solubility parameters of polymer; Hansen solubility parameter theory; factors affecting polymer dissolution; Separation of polymer and/or polymer additives; emerging solvents (ionic liquids, supercritical fluids, and deep eutectic solvents).
Thermochemical Recycling of Plastics
- Embodied energy; advanced incineration; gasification; pyrolysis; hydrothermal processes; chemolysis; solvolysis; plastic-derived fuels and chemicals; commercialization efforts.
Lifecycle Assessment
- Cradle-to-gate analysis; cradle-to-grave analysis; cradle-to-cradle analysis; environmental burdens; fossil fuel consumptions.
About the Facilitator
Wan-Ting (Grace) Chen is an assistant professor in the department of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell), where she directs the Plastics & Environment Research Laboratory (PERL). Grace received her B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University, M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a postdoctoral training in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University. Her research group has extensive experience in the sustainability area, working with stakeholders including federal/state agencies, industries, and non-profit organizations. To date, her research group has been funded by the REMADE Institute, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center, the United Soybean Board (USB), and several companies.
Prof. Chen's current research focuses on four topics: 1) Advanced recycling of plastic and municipal waste into fuels, polymers, and chemicals, 2) Degradable and biobased polymeric material development, 3) Interfacial phenomena between microplastics and biofilms, and 4) green solvent/chemical design. Her lab is equipped with reactors for hydrothermal processing of plastic waste and biowaste, as well as characterizations for fuel/polymers/thin films/microplastics. In addition, her lab also has a license to a specialized software, Hansen Solubility Parameters in Practice (HSPiP), to study polymer dissolution/precipitation behavior, coating removal, polymer diffusion, and packaging failure mechanisms. The Chen Group’s research program contributes to the development of new multi-disciplinary materials on the topic of plastic/municipal waste recycling, biodegradable/biobased plastic material, microplastic/biofilm interaction, and sustainability analysis. Prof. Chen is affiliated with American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and American Chemical Society (ACS). To date, she has published 45 peer-reviewed articles, four book chapters, and one U.S. patent, with a total citation of 3000+ and an H-index of 26.