The potential of natural zeolites in energy recovery technology from waste plastic.pdf

The energy consumption in Saudi Arabia has increased significantly in recent years due to a rapidly growing population and economic development. The current peak demand of electrcity is 55 GW and it is projected to become 120 GW in the year 2032. Fossil fuels are the only choice to meet the energy requirements. The government plans to double its energy generating capacity by 2020, of which around 85% will come from renewable resources. Natural zeolites are found abundantly in Saudi Arabia and have a significant role in the energy generation applications. Natural zeolites samples have been collected from the Jabal Shama occurrence near Jeddah city. All of the samples showed the standard zeolite group of alumina-silicate minerals with the presence of other elements such as Na, Mg and K etc. A highly crystalline structure is found in natural zeolites, which is critical when using in the energy applications as a process catalyst. However, there is a need of special milling and purification process to achieve homogeneous particle morphology and sizes in a range of sub-micron to nano-meter without impurities. This will significantly increase the surface area and pore volume of natural zeolites, thus improving their properties as a process catalyst and optimizer. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential and utilization of naturally occurring zeolites in Saudi Arabia for pyrolysis of waste plastic to fuel oil.