Can Waste Oil Distillation Equipment Be Directly Integrated with Pyrolysis Equipment?

In waste-to-fuel projects, pyrolysis equipment and waste oil distillation equipment are typically installed as two separate but closely connected systems. The pyrolysis unit converts waste materials (tires, plastics, oil sludge, etc.) into pyrolysis oil, while the distillation unit upgrades the crude oil into higher-value fuel fractions such as non-standard diesel.

So can Waste Oil Distillation Equipment Be Directly Integrated with Pyrolysis Equipment? Theoretically, it's possible but the optimal integration method depends on the operating modes of both systems and project requirements.

Waste-to-Diesel Pyrolysis and Distillation Process

How Pyrolysis and Distillation Equipment Are Connected to Convert Waste into Diesel?

Based on the suggestion of engineer team of DOING Company, a feasible solution to connect and integrate the two systems is to add temporary oil storage tanks between the pyrolysis and distillation equipment, facilitating the pumping of pyrolysis oil into the distillation equipment. The oil storage tank is an important part of the integrated system because it helps:

1. Prevent pipeline overflow or blockage

2. Balance the operating rhythms between the two systems

3. Improve overall operational stability

Furthermore, ensuring the stable transfer of pyrolysis oil requires precise engineering design in addition to storage tanks. This entails the use of high-temperature-resistant piping, pumps, pressure control systems, and reliable safety measures.

In this condition, waste materials can be converted into non-standard diesel through the integrated pyrolysis distillation process:

Waste materials are fed into the pyrolysis reactor and thermally decomposed into pyrolysis oil, gas, and carbon black. The pyrolysis oil is collected and temporarily stored in a oil storage tanks. The oil is then transferred to the waste oil distillation unit for refining into qualified fuel products. This integrated configuration is commonly used in waste tire recycling, plastic-to-fuel plants, and oil sludge treatment projects.

waste-to-fuel pyrolysis distillation machine Waste Plastic Tyre-to-Diesel Processing Workflow

Note: Although the two systems can be integrated into one production line, fully synchronized continuous operation is still difficult under standard industrial configurations.

Why Fully Continuous Pyrolysis Distillation Operation Is Challenging?

Pyrolysis equipment supports batch, semi-continuous, and fully continuous operation. The processing capacity of pyrolysis equipment may vary a lot, from 100kg per batch to 50+TPD. And its working efficiency of pyrolysis machine can be 1 batch in 1 day, 3 batches in 2 days or 24/7hours no-stopping.

However, standard waste oil distillation equipment primarily operates in batch mode, with a processing cycle of approximately 15 to 20 hours per batch. And the daily capacity mainly varies from 100kg per batch to 14+TPD. Daily processing capacity typically ranges from 100 kilograms per batch to 14 tonnes per day.

waste-to-fuel pyrolysis distillation plant Differences between Pyrolysis Equipment and Distillation Equipment

Due to differences in operational modes and efficiency, it is difficult to achieve a fully continuous process even when pyrolysis and refining equipment are integrated.