At its factory in Kent, QM Recycled Energy - QMRE - has taken delivery of the first Víxla plastic waste-2-oil system to operate in the UK.
Eagle Technology of Norway, QMRE’s technology partner, built the 16.4-tonne, containerised, decentralised unit. Víxla is Norse for transformation, an allusion to the transition the new units will help bring about.
The partnership involved QMRE sharing with Eagle the results of their three years of operating experience with their test and development pyrolysis system. The results were fed into Eagle’s production processes and have now resulted in the creation of a thermolysis-driven plastic waste-2-oil system jointly developed by Eagle and QMRE.
The delivery of the first Víxla system from Eagle Technology represents a significant milestone and the first step towards achieving a targeted annual processing capacity of 6,600 tonnes - operating four Víxlas - of plastic waste at the QMRE site in Hoo. The oil produced from the Víxla will be sold to petrochem companies and used to replace currently used feedstocks from fossil origins.
With years of experience in pyrolysis technology through their patented Induction Thermal Disorption Unit in Norway, able to treat 70 metric tons of drill cuttings daily, Eagle laid the foundation for the Víxla system.
A typical QMRE Víxla system will convert 1kg of plastic waste into 1 litre of pyro-oil, dubbed QUEL and 85% of the total; 12% non-condensable gas used to heat the process and 3% carbon ash, which can be used in construction products. The system operates for 330 days a year. According to QMRE’s CEO, Tim StClair-Pearce,QMRE has been laying the groundwork to produce a system that could deal effectively with the problem of plastic waste pollution for the past six years. “Our collaboration with Eagle and other parties has resulted in the Víxla, which will now be rolled out to create a nationwide network of plastic waste-2-oil systems, which, with further processing, will turn the oil back into new and renewable plastic.”
The delivery of the first Víxla is no less momentous for Eagle Technology, said Roy Moberg, Eagle Technology’s CEO. “It has been a long and demanding process to reach where we are today. Our latest test runs now show that we are controlling the process well with high yield and excellent quality oil.”
He added: “We look forward to getting the plant operational in the UK and are excited to develop and optimise the technology together with QMRE. Operational experience from the plant will be extremely valuable for Eagle in further developing the technology. We will do our utmost to support QMRE so that, together, we succeed in offering the market a unique technology that the world needs to achieve the green transition.”