The research of the graduate in Chemical Engineering UCBM together with Aeneas
October 16, 2020 - The Master's Degree Course in Chemical Engineering for Sustainable Development it is a path aimed at the creation of transversal professionals, equipped with a high capacity for planning and innovation, capable of operating in the sector of planning, operational management, marketing of systems and industrial services. In fact, the employment rate of graduates (as defined by ISTAT Labor Forces) is 82% and reaches 100% after 5 years (data source Almalaurea) with over 83% of permanent contracts. Among these, some choose to devote themselves to research, especially in the sector of environmental protection and the circular economy, whose themes include the recycling and recovery of plastic.
According to Corepla (National Consortium for the collection of plastic packaging), in our country in 2017 only 43,5% of the packaging collected was recycled. The rest ended up in waste-to-energy plants (40%) and in landfills (16,5%). Yet the packaging can be totally reused to produce hydrocarbon oil. This is precisely the heart of the research project by Marco Cocchi, graduated in Chemical Engineering for Sustainable Development and currently a PhD student at theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma. The young man, who works in the Chemical-Physical Fundamentals Research Unit of Chemical Engineering directed by prof. Vincenzo Piemonte, is the first signatory of the publication on Catalyst entitled "Catalytic Plastic Pyrolysis process”. Conducted in collaboration with Aeneas, the experimentation, which has already involved Piergianni Nardozzi, now a graduate in Chemical Engineering at our university, through a master thesis project, consists in using a thermal process defined as catalytic pyrolysis which decomposes organic materials for the production of an oily liquid of hydrocarbons to be used for the production of other plastics, but also of fuels and raw materials of the fine chemical industry. An indispensable element for the catalytic pyrolysis tested in the project is zeolite, a mineral compound obtained at no cost from the ashes of coal processing and red mud, a polluting industrial waste generated by the production of aluminium. Present in considerable quantities on the beaches of Portoscuso, in the south of Sardinia, red mud is the symbol of one of the most important environmental problems of the mining industry which is recovered in this way, giving life to a clear example of a circular and sustainable system.
The process studied by Cocchi, within an installation of modest dimensions created ad hoc at the Enea laboratories, led by dr. Richard Tuffi, represents an innovative reuse of discarded packaging, helping to reduce the amount of incorrectly recycled plastic. A pilot study which in perspective has the objective of giving life to the creation of systems useful for serving the needs of entire communities.
