The development of diesel power generation is predominantly geared toward island areas or ships because diesel exhibits weak scale-merit characteristics and power quality problems, which are associated with environmental pollution. However, a new energy paradigm, distribution energy resource (DER), has been emerging as a renewable energy source due to the existing structural problems in waste disposal and complex factors such as the conversion technology of waste emulsified oil (WDF). By combining extended producer responsibility (EPR) support and renewable energy certificates (REC), including waste energy REC 0.25 for other bioenergy and REC 1.0 for power transactions, an adequate profit model can be built through self-energetic power generation, thereby drawing keen attention from related industries. Therefore, if WDF is used appropriately as a high-quality engine fuel, it can lead to the development of various fields such as novel renewable energy sectors, waste management, and EPR-related industries. This study is intended to produce WDF using plastic waste by using it as engine-generator fuel. Moreover, we investigate ways to improve the quality and suitability of WDF as an engine fuel.

Although waste oil derived fuel (WDF) production technology was developed under a government initiative ~10 years ago, it became stagnant owing to the small size of participating companies, residents’ rejection of foul odor, and the nature of the technology for recycling waste that was avoided. However, this subject is under the spotlight again because of recent developments, such as garbage crisis. In particular, plastic is the most difficult waste to dispose of, with more than 4 million tons of plastic waste produced every year according to statistics from the Ministry of Environment. The most effective method for treating plastic waste is to produce WDF through low temperature thermal decomposition. The WDF includes several volatile ingredients that mostly limit the use of fuel for boilers, owing to safety concerns. In particular, flash point is legally stipulated because of secondary contamination in the distribution process and the risk of fire and explosion. It is required that external shipments (distribution) should be maintained in the range of at least 30~60℃ (excluding explosion prevention facilities) for diesel power generation. Therefore, this study seeks to find the flash point that is best suited to WDFs produced from plastic waste.