Page 52 - Plastics News July 2017

TECHNOLOGY

Turkish students develop Software to stimulate turning algae

into ethylene

wo students from the Izmir Institute of Technology, software, which is used to design and model processes
TTurkey who used Honeywell’s simulation software to in production facilities around the world. Deliismail
demonstrate how to produce petrochemicals from algae, and Akin presented the winning entry during the
have been named the winners of Honeywell Process Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Americas Symposium,
Solutions’ (HPS) annual UniSim® Design Challenge. They the company’s largest gathering of customers in the
defeated 60 teams from 25 countries. process manufacturing industries. Their preliminary
design demonstrates the drastically reduced carbon-
foot print of the hybrid process by anaerobic digestion
and oxidative coupling versus the traditional process
of ethylene production. It also shows that bio-ethylene
production from bio-methane is profitable.

100% recycled polyester yarn
for fabric production from

PET bottles

Malaysian manufacturer is manufacturing eco-
The Turkish chemical engineering students, who won
A friendly fashion from recycled PET bottles.
the competition last year with a different project,
Waste2Wear was developed as a fabric from recycled
were recognized during the company’s annual customer drinks containers. The manufacturer- Vision Textiles
symposium held this week in San Antonio, Texas. Ozgun aims to focus on school and business uniforms, medical
Deliismail and Okan Akin, under the supervision of Associate scrubs, spa robes, home goods (bedding and pillows)
Professor Dr. Erol Seker, used UniSim Design and UniSim and reusable market bags with its Waste2Wear® brand
Dynamics to create a preliminary conceptual design and and further explore all opportunities in recycled
simulation of the production of bio-based ethylene from textiles. This cradle-to-cradle manufacturing loop
turns PET waste into wearable fabric i simple steps.
the marine microalgae of Nannochloropsis oculata. Ethylene
Plastic bottles are stripped of caps and labels,
produced from this renewable source can easily replace
then thoroughly cleaned to remove any residue or
petrochemical-based ethylene in conventional production
contaminants. The plastic is then processed into
processes. “The interest in renewable petrochemicals flakes and washed again to ensure there is nothing left
continues due to a combination of environmental concerns but 100% RPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate)
and economic uncertainties,” said John Roffel, director of remaining.The clean flakes are transformed into
Honeywell’s Simulation and Operator Competency product small pellets of pure recycled plastic that is virtually
lines. “It is great to see that students around the world find indistinguishable from “virgin” PET (polyethylene
new ways to tackle global challenges with the help of the terephthalate).The pellets are then extruded into
yarn which can be tinted as any color. The 100%
UniSim Design Suite.”
recycled polyester yarn can be used on its own or
The UniSim Design Challenge allows engineering students blended with other eco-friendly yarns to produce
to propose solutions to real-world problems facing process Waste2Wear® fabrics.
manufacturers with Honeywell’s UniSim Design Suite

Plastics News | July 2017 52