"Fuel crisis can be solved by plastic materials- Associate Prof. Dr. Mohammed Mahmudur Rahman of Jagannath University"

Shamima Afrose Moon,JnU Correspondent:

At present fuel crisis and plastic pollution are the most significant problems in Bangladesh. Dr. Mohammed Mahmudur Rahman, Associate Professor of Department of Chemistry initiated a project to solve plastic waste pollution and converted waste polyethylene into liquid fuel. The project was funded by the research grants of the Jagannath University. A BSc (Hons) undergraduate student Zunayed Mahmud Shuva   worked in this project with Dr. Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman. This work was then published on 31 October 2022 in a renowned international journal called European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, Wiley (EurJIC). The impact factor of this journal is 2.551 . The title is "Catalytic pyrolysis of single-use waste polyethylene for the production of liquid hydrocarbon using modied bentonite catalyst". The main objective of this research was to convert single-use waste polyethylene into fuel. Associate Prof Dr. Nafees Ahmed, Dr. Joyanta Kumar Saha and Prof Dr. Subrata Chandra Roy of Department of Chemistry, JnU also worked in this project. Two students of JnU who worked in this project are BSc (Hons) graduate Zunayed Mahmud Shuva and MSc graduate Md Ariful Rahman. 

 

Dr. Mohammed Mahmudur Rahman said "This project may add a revolutionary change to our country. At present, fuel crisis and plastic pollution have become a major problem in Bangladesh. We can convert waste plastics into fuel. The fuel can be used in boiler and car. Electricity can be produced from this fuel as the fuel is mostly diesel, petrol and kerosene. If we get more funds from the Government of Bangladesh, we may set up a pilot plant for large scale production. There are large amount of single-use polyethylene bags in the Buriganga river and other rives, canals and garbage dumping areas. These plastics can be converted into diesel, petrol and kerosene. I am proud that my undergraduate student Shuvo has done this excellent work. We should encourage our undergraduate and MSc students to involve in research. More research should be done on sustainable energy"