Wan-Ting Chen

Title: Wan-Ting Chen and Plastic-Waste Conversion

Introduction

Wan-Ting Chen is an inventor associated with Lowell, Massachusetts, and Purdue Research Foundation. His work includes a patented method for recovering useful materials from plastic waste.

Latest Patents

Chen is credited with 1 patent, titled “Method of Converting Plastic Waste into Useful Stock.” The patent describes methods for recovering pristine polymers and hydrocarbon mixtures from sorted waste feedstocks, with or without organic additives.

The disclosed approaches include Sequential Selective Extraction and Adsorption (SSEA), Hydrothermal Processing (HTP), and a combination of the two. In an example of SSEA, a selected solvent is combined with sorted feedstock in an extractor, heated, and then separated to produce a pristine polymer solution. In an example of HTP, feedstock and a hydrothermal solvent are heated in a reactor to form subcritical or supercritical water. Thermal depolymerization produces a slurry, which is cooled and processed to separate the resulting hydrocarbon mixture.

Career Highlights

Chen’s patent focuses on methods for converting sorted plastic waste into recoverable materials. The described processes aim to separate polymers and hydrocarbon mixtures through solvent-based extraction, hydrothermal treatment, or both.

Collaborations

The provided information identifies Nien-Hwa Linda Wang and Kai Jin as Chen’s coworkers.

Conclusion

Wan-Ting Chen’s patent presents several approaches to recovering useful polymers and hydrocarbon mixtures from plastic waste, highlighting his contribution to waste-conversion innovation.