Ventana is a next-generation cleantech company which has developed a disruptive technology for conversion of mixed waste plastics into petroleum fuels which approximate diesel and other industrial fuel oils. The technology provides a cost-effective and robust mechanism for recycling post-consumer & post-industrial mixed plastics – most of which are being landfilled today.

Hydrocarbon Catcracker^TM -- our patent-pending technology -- accepts mixed, loose & unwashed waste plastics from municipal waste stream, material recycling facility or an industrial source and catalytically cracks it to useful fuels having varying applications.

Reaction Laboratory

Ventana’s team comprises of competent scientist & engineers having over 90 years of aggregate experience in the field of chemical, petroleum, catalysis & process engineering. Our team members have Ph.D, M. Tech & B. Tech degrees in chemistry from National Chemical Laboratory (Pune), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Wayne State University (Michigan) & University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES). The company’s founder is author of two patents filed on the technology.

The engineering team is supplemented by an in-house team of welders, fitters & electricians who ensure quick turnaround times to plant commissioning & other operational requirements. The entire effort is assisted with an equipped laboratory to study reaction kinetics and analyze fuel generated from plastic waste.

Hydrocarbon Catcracker^TM deploys a robust continuous production system which removes residual char and contaminants on an ongoing basis without the need to stop the process. This is a significant departure from competing technologies which are essentially batch mode and require frequent down-times to clean the vaporizer vessel of residual matter.

While competing plants generate crude-like heavy fuel from waste plastics and are positioned in the market between $4.0 - $7.0 million USD (20-30 TPD capacity), technology innovations done by the company allow for production of superior quality fuels using plant infrastructure having a much lower upfront capital cost.

Through successive generation of catalyst development, the company has successfully brought down costs related to catalytic conversion to 1/10th of its initial value, while increasing efficacy at the same time. As a result of such innovations in chemistry & process design, the cost of production of fuel is expected to be significantly less compared to a petroleum refinery.

The company has concluded two generations of process upscaling and has successfully commissioned a pilot plant which has been running successfully for over a year now. Over 400 trials have been performed in as many days.

The company is presently commissioning its 3rd generation fully continuous pilot based on the technology. It intends to commission a 20 TPD commercial plant based on the technology by 2013.

HyFuel^TM generated from conversion of waste plastics

Ventana’s Hydrocarbon Catcracker^TM is a path-breaking innovation in green chemistry for conversion of plastic wastes into petroleum fuels which may possibly be refined and blended to obtain automotive diesel & other industrial fuel oils.

HyFuel^TM generated from the process has been validated by independent laboratories to have low specific gravity (0.75 - 0.80 gm/cm3), low viscosity, a Gross Calorific Value (GCV) exceeding 11,000 cal/gm and carbon number distribution in the C5- C24 range.

HyFuel^TM is far lighter than crude oil and can be used as-is in industrial boilers or taken in by petro-refineries for refining and blending to automotive grade.

Our patent-pending process achieves reaction kinetics to favor a high degree of conversion of plastic feedstock to high-value petroleum fuels, with the rest of feedstock being converted into useful (LPG-like) off-gas and a minor amount of residual solid char.

The process accepts raw, unwashed, mixed plastic waste stream from a municipal facility, a MRF or industrial source. It segregates plastics which have high hydrocarbon content from the incoming waste stream and processes them catalytically to produce lighter fuel oils. Together, these segregated plastics form the bulk majority of post-consumer, post-industrial plastic wastes in the world today.

Unlike combustion and thermal depolymerization methods for recycling polymers, which require high temperatures & produce large amounts of slurries & heavy oils (akin to crude) as output, the proprietary HyCatalyst^TM used in Hydrocarbon Catcracker^TM catalytically depolymerize plastic feedstocks into lighter hydrocarbon fuel chains at much lower temperatures, thereby offering huge gains product yield, product quality and energy efficiency.

1. A mechanism to treat post-consumer, post-industrial, mixed, commingled plastic waste coming municipal / material recycling facility (MRF) and industrial waste sources.


2. Extraction of calorific energy contained in waste plastics in the form of a highly prized, non-renewable & depleting commodity -- petrochemical fuels.


3. Generation of fuels at a cost lesser than a traditional petroleum refinery. The technology is profitable and requires no government subsidy or tax breaks


4. Generation of fuels which are far superior to crude and can possibly be refined and blended to automotive grade.

5. A very high conversion of 70 % -- 95 % (by weight) of waste plastic feedstock into liquid fuels & LPG-like gas, with little solid residual matter (mostly non-volatile contamination which clings to plastic waste alongwith carbon char)


6. An alternate to disposal of plastic wastes by landfilling.


7. Avoidance of green house gas emission from landfilled plastics.


8. Avoidance of green house gas emissions from exploration, drilling, piping & refining of a similar quantity of petroleum fuel using conventional refining processes.


9. Creation of green jobs: Each 20 TPD installation of the technology shall generate 12-15 green jobs directly.

Today, plastics have become a ubiquitous part of our lives. We begin our day by brushing our teeth with nylon bristles, and then take a bath using a plastic bucket. We wear clothes made from Terylene and nylon and use plastic dishes & melamine crockery in the kitchen. We put on shoes with synthetic rubber soles and travel in cars & buses which employ a number of plastic parts. In all spheres of human activity ranging from agriculture, medical health, food packaging, automobiles, information technology to even space exploration and off-shore drilling, plastic has made its ubiquitous presence felt.

Just as plastics have become an everyday part of our lives today, so has become common the post-consumption litter of plastics.

Once manufactured, a single-use shopping carrybag made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) persists for over a 1000 years. An estimated 100 million tons of plastic litters our oceans forming giant gyres (plastic soups), with millions more tons added each year.

Currently, the pre-dominant mechanism for recycling of plastic wastes involves converting it to re-processed granules for subsequent use. This method is however limited to plastics of either single or compatible resin types. Presence of a polymer resin (say PVC) dispersed in a matrix of a second polymer resin (say PET) dramatically changes the properties of the mix and hinder the possibilities to re-process it using mechanical means.

Another problem with mechanical recycling is the presence in plastic waste of products made of the same resin but with different color, which usually impart an undesirable grey color to the recycled plastic. (Jenni Ylä-Mella 2005 & Aguado and Serrano 1999)

Consequently, as there exists no scalable, cost-effective technological solution for treatment of commingled, mixed-waste plastics -- globally much of plastic waste is presently landfilled or littered. Given their high energy content (approximately 10,000-11,000 Kcal / kg ) -- this is a humongous waste of calorific energy which also leads to significant health & ecological issues to human life, animal life & planetary ecosystems (case in point -- the Great Pacific Garbage Patch).

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (2009), the plastics recycling rate of 7.1 % is the lowest of all major recyclable materials. The amount of plastics landfilled in the United States in 2008 was estimated at 28.8 million tons*. The chemical energy contained in this material was 807 trillion BTU.
This amount of energy is equivalent to:

36.7 million tons of coal, or
139 million barrels of oil, or
783 billion cubic feet of natural gas

*Source : American Chemistry Council, 2011

The Hydrocarbon Catcracker^TM technology allows for recycling of commingled mixed plastic wastes into high-value, high calorific, lighter petroleum fuels. It offers a disruptive solution to an immensely large multi billion dollar market looking for technological solutions to solve the challenge of mixed waste plastic recycling.

If 25% of waste plastics which were being land-filled in USA alone were to be tapped by such a technology, it shall lead (across plant’s lifetime) to production of 230 million barrel of fuel oils (9.68 billion gallons) aggregating to a market value of approximately $23.03 billion (at $100 /barrel). Globally, the market size may be imagined to be many times higher than this.

At Ventana, our culture encourages innovation, initiative and focused research. Our goal is to provide a stimulating, challenging and supportive environment where employees enjoy coming to work everyday. We emphasize collaboration and teamwork, but also recognize individual achievement.

Our success is predicated on our ability to recruit and retain highly qualified and motivated people in all areas of the company. We look for exceptionally talented people who excel in their field of expertise, are determined to realize their personal and professional potential, possess high standards of integrity and a commitment to improve global well-being.

Our employees are essential to the future growth of our company. We value their dedication and recognize their contribution to our success. If you are passionate for working to solve one of the leading ecological challenges of our times and work in an autonomous environment that nurtures your professional potential, write-in to: hr@ventanacleantech.com

Ventana Cleantech

USA:

• 830, Andromeda Lane
• Foster City, California
• Zip: 94404

India
(Technology Development Centre):

• KK-16, HSIDC Estate
• Kalka (Haryana)
• India.
• Pincode : 133302
• Phone : +91-97794-28009

• Email: info@ventanacleantech.com