In January 2023, the project’s partners Ahmad Al Farra from TotalEnergies and Luis Azaña Caro from AZCATEC are visiting Zaragoza in the frame of PLASTICE.
On the first day, they visited CIRCE Labs – project coordinator specialised in microwave technology, resources optimization and circular economy – and made some tests. On the second day they visited URBASER facilities, where the technology related to microwaves-assisted pyrolysis will be tested. This technology provides a more efficient and controllable process compared to conventional pyrolysis, with the additional advantage of being powered by RES (e.g. PV) due to the electrification of the process.
In PLASTICE, TotalEnergies role is to validate the performance and the cost/environmental benefits of the demonstrators and the quality. AZCATEC, on the other side, is involved in designing and building two Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis pilot plants at different scales: Demo and Pilot to demonstrate CIRCE innovative process at URBASER facilities aimed at reducing CO2 and electricity consumption in comparison with traditional pyrolysis of different kinds of plastics.
