Giant Microwave Turns Plastic Back to Oil

An anonymous reader writes "From the newscientist article: "Key to GRC's process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas.""

Hooray!

[Spudtrooper]

Finally, a use for all those AOL CDs!

Great, so...

[Bin_jammin]

when I stop at the gas station/convenience store, I'll be able to buy a burrito that's 1/2 frozen coming out of the microwave, and fuel 1/2 frozen coming out of the microwave. How far we've come!

Interestingly

[GammaKitsune]

I've gotten my microwave at home to break my food back down into component carbons. Or at least something pretty similar to coal.

Re:Great, so...

[afidel]

Well, then you get all the fuel back since the burrito is already going to produce a ton of methane =)

I knew it!

[weinrich]

"Take a piece of copper wiring," says Meddick. "It is encased in plastic - a kind of hydrocarbon material. [stick it in our microwave] and we release all the hydrocarbons, which strips the casing off the wire."

I knew the microwave manufacturer's were lying to us all these years! They kept telling us not to put metal in our microwaves, and now I know why: they just wanted to keep this money-making technology to themselves. You Bastards!

Irony

[vertigoCiel]

Powering the next generation with the accumulated shit of the previous one. Brilliant.

Re:but...

[protolith]

And no mention of the really cool lightning created when you leave a metal fork in the plastic.

Good!

[Robber Baron]

Good! they can start by zapping all that annoying hard plastic bubble packaging that every bleeding thing seems to come in now and is harder then hell to open without damaging the contents! What frigging idiot came up with that idea?!? If there isn't a hell, they should make one, and put idiots like that in it! I know...a prison...we'll strip them naked and make sure their cells are free of anything with sharp or pointed edges, and all their meals, toilet paper, soap etc will come wrapped in their diabolical inventions!

Re:People...

[Anonymous Coward]

Will this be the new trendy form of cremation?

Was there ever a "trendy" form of cremation?

Already done in a bioreactor

[Anne_Nonymous]

>> plastic... broken down into... combustible gas

Try feeding your dog a (small) Lego. It has the same effect. For almost a week.

Re:Hooray!

[Spy der Mann]

Finally, a use for all those AOL CDs!

... and the term "CD burning" acquires a completely new meaning.

Exxon has been working on that. Re:People...

[twitter]

This is true and people have been using animal fat as a fuel ever since they discovered fire. Exxon realized that 150,000 people already die each year from global warming and their bodies represent an untapped, carbon neutral fuel source. Check out the results at Vivoleum.com [vivoleum.com], and you to may want to be a candle or SUV fodder. Burn guilt free!

Oh no, Exxon Killed the Program.

[twitter]

You can still see the tribute video here [ran.org]. It has all of the good parts anyway. The press release is also preserved [dailykos.com] elsewhere.

Re:People...

[Anonymous Coward]

Idea for new hybrid. Fill'er up with Soylent Green.

Re:I've been saying for years

[Inner_Child]

Wow, now I really CAN power my Delorean. 1885, here I come!

Re:Question about the process...

[P3NIS_CLEAVER]

your brain has absorbed most of the energy

Re:People...

[patman600]

Well, I know I've been dying to try it.

will it blend?

[nanosquid]

I'm sure it helps to stick the stuff into a blender [willitblend.com] first.

Re:I've been saying for years

[cashman73]

No! No! No! You've got it all wrong! Remember when Doc Brown answered Marty's inquiry about whether the DeLorean ran on regular unleaded? "No! No! No! This sucker's electrical! But I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity I need!"

A giant microwave...

[Junior J. Junior III]

So, just like, a wave, right?

Re:I've been saying for years

[coleblak]

It's jigga. Jiggawatts. Where we're going, we don't need any cds.

Everything old is new again

[steveoc]

Not surprised by this at all.

There are countless stories of ancient technology where enlightened beings create things or destroy them by utilising special harmonic vibrations.

We have pyramids and whole cities being constructed in the remote jungle covered mountains of Peru by a small number of 'dwarfs' who move massive blocks of granite around using a nothing but a 'chiming rod'. (Sound being a vibration in teh audible spectra).

We have the armies of King David knocking down the walls of Jericho by blowing specific notes on the sacred horn of destruction. (Sound again being a vibration in teh audible spectra).

We have ancient Indians flying around in Vimyana airships and laying waste to massed armies with blasts of specially coded light waves. (Light being a vibration in teh visible spectra).

From ancient Inuit culture, we have heroes who can 'hummm' inaudible songs to summon a great whale from beneath the ice caps of the frozen north, and command the whale to do their bidding. (Subtonal vibrations in teh sensory spectra)

We have the ancient Malinese who claim to have built a city UNDER THE OCEAN in a single day, by banging two large fish together. (A vibration in teh olafactory spectra perhaps ?)

And the ancient Australian aboriginies, where the rainbow serpent created the mountains and the rivers and then literally sang day and night and linear time into existence. (A vibration in teh temporal spectra ?).

So why should we be surprised that vibrations in teh Microwave spectra hold the power to perform the modern alchemical trick of turning old barbie dolls and art-deco floor coverings into diesel fuel ?

Thats hardly progress - I would be impressed if they came up with a giant titanium chiming wand that could remotely construct a magnificent city on the Moon in a couple of hours, or a 100 square mile flawless pyramid of solid ruby on the surface of Mars over the space of a long weekend ...

Re:Question about the process...

[j_square]

For the umptieth time: THERE IS NO WATER RESONANCE AT 2.4 GHz!!! Water in its gas phase has a resonance around 22 GHz. Liquid phase water has a very broad resonance, peaking around 10 - 30 GHz (temperature dependent).

Re:People...

[Todamont]

Muahaha, my evil plan of turning people into oil is finally coming true! Wait, are people made of plastic?

Re:I've been saying for years

[Anonymous Coward]

Hell, why not go the whole hog and bring back indentured servitude?

Re:I called it!

[Anonymous Coward]

You're a 4-digit. You called everything first!

Re:Hooray!

[mynickwastaken]

It is not working. I put a AOL CD in my microwave owen and it turned directly into fire.

Re:Hooray!

[phagstrom]

Using an AOL CD was your first mistake. They are not made of plastic, the are forged of pure evil.

Re:People...

[Joebert]

You're obviously not from California.

Re:Spelling should reflect the pronunciation

[LittleBigLui]

See a new word in German for example, you can pronounce it pretty much correctly without having heard someone speak it first.

Well... if you see a new word in German, it usually is an english word and you're back to square one. :)

Re:I've been saying for years

[Colin Smith]

Indeed. Clearly modded by someone who has no clue how money really works.

 

Re:Hooray!

[StarvingSE]

So they can only be destroyed by casting them into the fires of Mount AOL, from whence they came?

Re:Good!

[complete loony]

There was a guy who invented a tool just to open this style of packaging. Unfortunately the manufacturer shipped them in those hard plastic packets....

Beverly

[Joebert]

Let me tell ya little story bout a man named Fred,
Jersey Engineer barely has time to eat bread,
Then one day he was cookin up some food,
after a 20 minute call it was a bubblin crude.

My question

[LittleGuy]

How much microwave power do you need to reconstitute oil back into dinosaurs?

Re:Hooray!

[razorh]

Using an AOL CD was your first mistake. They are not made of plastic, the are forged of pure evil.
even better! do you know how many mpg you can get on PURE EVIL?!?

Re:Its the shopping system that sucks

[indifferent children]

Can I bring my own 4 gallon container and fill it up with shower gel? NO.

Just go to "Sams Club" or Costco. You can buy a 4 gallon container of shower gel.

Re:Question about the process...

[marcosdumay]

Well, they are sparks. And you are producing fuel... A very interesting combination.

Re:In any case...

[Ant P.]

You can do more with oil than just burn it, such as turning it into plastic.

Re:Spelling doesn't have to reflect the pronunciat

[penp]

One thing I find with English speaking people, is that they don't care so much about the pronunciation, or even if you use the correct grammar.

And then, you found slashdot.

Re:Hooray!

[SEWilco]

even better! do you know how many mpg you can get on PURE EVIL?!?

Only 5 MPG. Running over old people and firing the cannon really slows you down.

Re:People...

[jollyreaper]

Will this be the new trendy form of cremation?

Was there ever a "trendy" form of cremation?

I'm sure there's been one. Don't they say that immolation is the sincerest form of flattery?

On your successful landfill mining operation

[Haiku 4 U]

You are already
successful at mining piles
of slashdot's garbage!

How you found one post
out of so many boggles
my mind? Slashdot search?

Re:Hooray!

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Using an AOL CD was your first mistake. They are not made of plastic, the are forged of pure evil."

Boy is that true. I microwaved an AOL CD, it turned into pure evil, and a bunch of little dudes came in and took me on a wacky adventure!