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Starting a Pyrolysis Business: Which Pyrolysis Machine Fits a First Project?
Industry News / Date:October 28, 2026
For most first-time buyers the right first pyrolysis machine is a batch model of about 2 t/d, sized to the feedstock you can collect in your weakest month rather than the best month you have seen so far. Two tonnes a day is the point where a pyrolysis machine stops being a test rig: below it, three operators, the permit work and the site overheads consume almost everything a tonne of tires produces.
The other half of the answer is arithmetic rather than caution. A pyrolysis machine rated 10 t/d on clean, uniform feed realistically processes 6–7 t/d on variable post-consumer material, and the gap between rated and actual capacity is the most common reason a first pyrolysis project never repays its capital. Both figures come from the same two causes: fixed costs that do not shrink with the reactor, and feed that never arrives as clean as the test sample.
This guide works through that arithmetic with the numbers a buyer can actually check: how long one batch takes hour by hour, how much oil a tonne of tires or mixed plastic really yields, what a 10 t/d pyrolysis machine earns in a normal month, and how long it takes to go from deposit to first oil. The pyrolysis machine range used throughout is DOING ECO's own — frame-type, batch, semi-continuous and fully continuous machines from 100 kg to 50 t/d — because a comparison needs specific models to compare.
Choose pyrolysis plant based on your project needs
1. Start from the feedstock you can collect, not the capacity you can afford
Waste supply is not the global problem; collection at your gate is. Globally, 353 million tonnes of plastic waste were generated in 2019 and only 9% was ultimately recycled, with about half going to landfill and 22% mismanaged (OECD, 2022) — the material exists, but it sits in informal collection networks, not in a yard you control.
So the first number to establish is not tonnage per day but tonnage per day in a bad month: how much waste tire or plastic you can contract, at what price, twelve months a year. A pyrolysis machine rated far above your supply does not earn less per tonne — it earns nothing on the idle days, while depreciation, labour and permits keep running.
Rated capacity is a 24-hour figure, not a reactor load. A 10 t/d pyrolysis machine does not hold 10 tonnes at once; it accumulates about 10 tonnes across several batches in a day.
A reactor is filled to 70–85% of its geometric volume. The remaining headspace is for vapour expansion and to keep material out of the condensation train.
Rated capacity assumes prepared feed. Moisture, oversize pieces, sand and metal all consume heat or volume without producing oil, which is why the same 10 t/d pyrolysis machine lands at 6–7 t/d on variable material and an annual availability of 80–85% after cleaning and maintenance.
If the quoted capacity is per batch rather than per day, the same pyrolysis machine can look twice as large on paper as it performs in a 24-hour cycle. Ask which basis the number uses before you compare two offers.
Oil yield by feedstock — why the same pyrolysis machine earns differently
Yield is a property of the feedstock, not the reactor. The table below is measured on clean, single-source material in DOING ECO's own test runs; treat the upper figures as best case and expect materially lower results from wet, mixed or contaminated bales.
Table 1. Liquid oil yield by feedstock (DOING ECO test data)
| Feedstock | Oil yield | What the buyer should know |
|---|---|---|
| Big truck / OTR tires | 45–52% | Thickest rubber section, highest oil fraction per tonne |
| Small car, motorcycle tires | 35–40% | More steel and fabric per tonne than truck tires |
| Rubber cable sheath, shoe soles | 35% | Clean single-polymer rubber, low ash |
| Rubber sheets and carpets | 30% | High filler content absorbs heat without yielding oil |
| Pure PE / PP / PS | 90–95% | Best case: clean, dry, single polymer, no filler |
| Pure white plastic sheets | 70% | Clean post-industrial scrap, predictable |
| Pure ABS, food packaging bags | 40% | Additives and multilayer structure cut liquid yield |
| Household plastic waste | 30–50% | Mixed polymer, moisture and inerts dominate the result |
| Plastic cable sheath | 80% | Clean PVC-free grade only; chlorinated sheath needs gas scrubbing |
| Oil sludge / oil sands | 15–70% / 20–30% | Water content is the swing factor, not the hydrocarbon |
2. The four pyrolysis machine types, and where a beginner actually fits
Table 2. Pyrolysis machine configurations compared on the numbers that decide a first purchase
| Type | Models & capacity | How it runs | Footprint | Crew | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frame-type (skid-mounted) | DY-0.1 / DY-0.5: 100 kg – 500 kg per batch | Arrives pre-assembled on one steel frame; unload, position, connect power and water | Single skid | 1–2 | Feasibility studies, yield testing, very small local supply |
| Batch | DY-1 – DY-20: 1–20 t/d | Load, seal, heat, condense, cool, discharge — one batch at a time, ~22 h per cycle at 10–12 t/d | 7–10 m × 25–30 m | 3–4 per shift | First commercial machine; irregular or seasonal supply |
| Semi-continuous | DY-S-5 – DY-S-20: 5–20 t/d | Sealed screw feeding and hot char discharge; no cool-down between batches, three batches in two days | Same as batch | 3–6 | Stable 5–20 t/d supply, shredded or flaked feed |
| Fully continuous | DY-C-15 – DY-C-50: 15–50 t/d | 24-hour enclosed operation under PLC control; about 40 days between planned shutdowns | 10 m × 70 m | 3–6 | Contracted, high-volume streams of 20,000 t/year or more |
Each of these is a complete pyrolysis machine, not a trim level of another one — which matters at resale and at permitting, because the equipment description in your application has to match what is actually installed.
3. What one batch actually takes, hour by hour
Beginners usually ask how long pyrolysis takes and get an answer in days. The useful answer is the cycle breakdown, because it shows exactly where the 22 hours go and which steps you can shorten with money and which you cannot.
Table 3. Cycle breakdown for a 10–12 t/d batch pyrolysis machine
| Step | Time | What happens / what it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Feeding — auto feeder + grab | 1–1.5 h | Two operators. The feeder pays for itself in labour and in cycle time. |
| Feeding — manual | 3 h | Three to four operators. Only rational where labour is very cheap. |
| Heating and cracking | 8–10 h | Oil burner raises the reactor to about 160 °C, where syngas generation becomes steady; from there the reactor runs on its own gas at 280–320 °C. This is the step that sets your daily tonnage. |
| Vacuum purge | ~1 h | Residual vapour is drawn off before the reactor is opened — a safety step, not an optional one. |
| Cooling | ~4 h | With a fast-cooling system; a conventional design needs about 7 h. Three hours a day is roughly one extra batch a week. |
| Char discharge | 1.5–2 h | Carbon black out, reactor checked, next load in. |
| Total | ~22 h | Only 8–10 of those hours are actual cracking. Everything else is handling — which is why a batch pyrolysis machine's daily tonnage is far below its reactor volume. |
Two smaller models run much faster cycles: the 100 kg pyrolysis machine finishes in 3–4 hours and the 500 kg model in 7–8 hours, which is what makes skid-mounted trials practical.
Pyrolysis machine processing time
4. Two sensible starting points, and why 2 t/d is the floor
Frame-type: the cheapest way to find out what your waste is worth
A frame-type pyrolysis machine arrives with reactor, condensation system, water circulation and oil tanks already mounted on one frame, so installation means unloading, positioning and connecting power and water — no foundation, no month of commissioning. For a buyer who has identified a waste stream but not measured it, this is the honest first purchase: it produces a real oil sample and a real yield number before any commercial volume is ordered, and it can be relocated if the business moves.
A compact, pre-assembled pyrolysis unit suitable for feedstock testing and small-scale projects
Batch 2 t/d: the usual first commercial pyrolysis machine
Models DY-1 and DY-2 take whole tires with modest pre-treatment, tolerate gaps in supply without damage, and carry the lowest capital of the commercial range — typically USD 40,000–100,000 for the 5–15 t/d class, with the 1–2 t/d models below that. In that pair, DY-2 is the size most first projects settle on, because at 1 t/d the fixed cost base consumes the revenue (Table 4). Both share a design lineage with DY-10, DY-12 and DY-20, so the operating habits learned on a small reactor transfer directly when capacity is added.
Batch pyrolysis machine key components
Why 2 t/d is the floor, not 1 t/d
Half of a pyrolysis plant's daily cost does not scale with tonnage. Three operators, the power connection, the storage tanks, the permit work and the site itself cost roughly the same whether the reactor processes one tonne a day or ten. That is why pushing down to 1 t/d to save capital does not save much of anything: the small machine keeps almost the same cost base while its revenue halves.
Table 4. What one tonne a day is worth: daily results at four scales (USD, same prices as Table 5)
| Daily feed | Oil out (t/d) | Revenue / day | Cash cost / day | Net before depreciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 t/d | 0.42 | ~260 | ~230 | ~30 |
| 2 t/d | 0.84 | ~520 | ~290 | ~230 |
| 5 t/d | 2.1 | ~1,300 | ~430 | ~870 |
| 10 t/d | 4.2 | ~2,470 | ~680 | ~1,790 |
The 1 t/d row assumes the optimistic end of everything: a 42% oil yield, three operators at USD 50/day in every column, and no allowance for the higher fuel and power consumption per tonne that small machines actually show. Even so it clears about USD 30 a day, which is not a business once depreciation and compliance testing are counted. The 2 t/d row is where the same cost base starts to leave something behind.
5. When to step up to semi-continuous or continuous
Semi-continuous is the step most buyers take second. Its dimensions and capacity match the batch range, but the furnace door is replaced by sealed screw feeding and screw discharge, so the reactor discharges hot char without cooling down — three batches in two days instead of roughly one a day. The price is preparation: feed must be shredded or flaked before it enters the screw.
Fully continuous pyrolysis machines from 15 to 50 t/d are the industrial answer, running 24 hours and staying up for about 40 days between planned shutdowns. Capital starts around USD 300,000 and rises with capacity and the environmental scope the local limits require. For volumes around 20,000 tonnes a year or more, a continuous pyrolysis machine is usually the sounder choice for output stability, labour cost and permitting alike, because a steady, documented throughput is easier to permit and easier to finance than a variable one. Neither of these is a sensible first machine: both punish feed interruption, and a continuous line run well below its rated input wastes the very advantages that justified its price.
Recommended reading：Tire Pyrolysis Plant Selection Guide: Batch, Semi-Continuous or Fully Continuous for 10–15 TPD and 30–50 TPD Projects
6. What a 10 t/d pyrolysis machine earns — and the three numbers that break the table
The mass balance for waste tires is well established: per tonne of feed, roughly 40–45% liquid oil, 35% carbon black, 15% steel wire and 6–8% non-condensable gas that is returned to the burner. On 10 tonnes a day that is about 4 tonnes of oil, 3 tonnes of carbon black and 1.5 tonnes of steel.
Table 5. Daily P&L, 10 t/d pyrolysis machine (USD, illustrative prices)
Feedstock costs, oil yield, operating expenses, and product prices affect project profitability
That table is a well-run day on cheap tires. Three numbers decide whether you see it in month six.
Utilisation. At 6.5 t/d instead of 10 — a normal outcome on variable supply — the same pyrolysis machine produces about 2.7 t of oil, 2.3 t of carbon black and 1 t of steel. Revenue falls to roughly USD 1,690 and costs to about USD 575, leaving about USD 1,110 a day. A 35% drop in tonnage cuts profit by 38%, because the fuel, power and labour you saved are the small items.
Feedstock price. Tires at USD 30/t are a gift. Every USD 10/t you pay more removes USD 100/day from the table — at USD 100/t the same pyrolysis machine gives up about USD 700 a day, close to 40% of the net.
Oil price. At USD 500/t the oil revenue dominates everything. A local buyer paying USD 350/t removes USD 600/day, which is more than the entire remaining profit.
Plastic projects follow the same structure with a wider yield range — 30–50% from household mix, 70% from clean sheet scrap, up to 90%+ from clean single-polymer PE/PP/PS — and a feedstock price with no global standard. What a tonne of waste plastic costs depends on the polymer, how clean it is, whether it has been sorted and baled, which country it is in and what freight adds; clean, sorted industrial-grade mixed plastic is commonly benchmarked around USD 400/t, while post-consumer streams collected locally can be far cheaper or free.
Recommended reading：What Are The Input Costs, Output, And Net Profit Of Plastic Pyrolysis Equipment?
Two upgrades that change the second and third year
Pyrolysis carbon black burns at about 7,000 kcal/kg, close to coal, so briquetting it turns a USD 50/t filler into fuel you would otherwise buy. Ground and refined to semi-reinforcing grades such as N550, N660 or N774, it sells in the range of RMB 2,000–3,000 per tonne. The oil can also be distilled: distillation yields 80–85% non-standard diesel and 15–20% heavy residue usable as asphalt-type material. Neither upgrade belongs in a first purchase, but both change the payback calculation enough to be modelled before you choose 5 t/d over 10 t/d.
Further processing can improve the usability and potential value of recovered carbon black
7. From deposit to first oil: the real schedule
Table 6. Order-to-commissioning timeline
| Stage | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Production — batch/semi-continuous pyrolysis machines | ~40 days | If the factory has stock on hand, it will be faster |
| Production — fully continuous | ~3 months | Longer build, more integration and control work |
| Pre-shipment inspection | 1 day | Video walk-round and photo set against the order specification |
| Sea freight | ~1 month | Shorter for India, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Russia |
| Installation and commissioning | Case by case | Engineer on site, plus operator training; near zero for skid-mounted pyrolysis machines |
| Realistic total | >3 months | Minimum around two months if shipping and site works go well |
Budget the permitting and site works in parallel, not afterwards: foundation, power connection and the emission-control scope are the items that actually delay first oil, not the build.
Recommended reading：What's the Pyrolysis Machine Delivery Time: From Order Confirmation to Commissioning?
8. The permit question that has to be answered before you order
Do not assume a pyrolysis plant is exempt from incineration or waste-treatment rules because the reactor runs with limited oxygen. In the United States, units that burn non-hazardous waste in an oxygen-limited primary chamber are currently regulated as other solid waste incineration units under Clean Air Act Section 129, and a 2021 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on pyrolysis and gasification units (86 FR 50296) remains the open federal proceeding on whether that classification should be kept, streamlined or replaced with a dedicated category. The relevant standards sit in the same programme as commercial and industrial solid waste incineration units, and state programmes can be stricter than the federal floor.
Jurisdictions that classify by activity rather than by technology produce the same result by a different route. California, for example, runs five regulatory tiers for solid waste handling — excluded, notification, registration, standardized and full permit — and the tier depends on the activity type and the amount of waste handled, so a pyrolysis line can land anywhere from a notification to a full solid-waste facility permit with CEQA review. In the European Union, a plant that falls within the waste incineration or co-incineration definitions is regulated under the Industrial Emissions Directive — Directive 2010/75/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1785, applicable in Member State law since the July 2026 transposition deadline — which sets the gas-cleaning scope and therefore the pyrolysis machine specification.
The practical consequence for a beginner is one sentence in the quotation: the gas-treatment scope must be configured against a written emission limit list from your own authority, and the equipment description in the permit application must match what is delivered. Changing the configuration after approval means an amendment, and an amendment means a delay you cannot recover.
Gas treatment and emission control equipment should be configured to meet local requirements
One more classification to settle early: pyrolysis oil is a fuel oil for boilers, kilns and heavy machinery, not a road diesel. It does not meet road-fuel specifications without further upgrading, and the sales contract should describe the product the same way the permit does.
Pyrolysis oil can be used as industrial fuel, subject to its quality and applicable regulations
9. Five checks before you order
Send your own feedstock for testing. A yield report on your material is worth more than any brochure table, because it converts Table 1 into your number. DOING ECO runs this test free of charge.
Get the emission limit list in writing. Gas treatment is priced against limits, and limits vary by district within the same country.
Walk the site for utilities. Power capacity, water, heating fuel and hardstanding for feedstock and char decide more of the layout than the pyrolysis machine footprint does.
Confirm how your waste is classified. Tire, plastic and sludge streams are classified differently in different jurisdictions, and the classification decides the permit tier.
Identify the buyers for all three outputs before you commit. Oil, carbon black and steel each need a local offtaker; a pyrolysis machine that produces a product nobody within 200 km will buy is a machine that runs at a loss.
10. Working with DOING ECO
DOING ECO builds all four configurations in one place, from the frame-type test machine to the 50 t/d continuous pyrolysis machine, so a pilot can grow into a commercial plant without changing supplier or operating philosophy. The pyrolysis machines are built by Henan Doing Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd, with plant layout planning, installation and operator training included in the delivery scope, and a stock and service base in Nigeria supporting West African projects. Deliveries now cover more than 120 countries.
What that means for a first purchase is narrow and practical: you can buy a 500 kg frame-type pyrolysis machine to test your feedstock, then a DY-2 for the first commercial year, then a semi-continuous line when supply is contracted — with the same drawings, the same spare-parts list and the same commissioning team.
Send your feedstock type, the tonnage you can collect in a weak month, and your site conditions. You will get back a model recommendation built on those three numbers, a mass balance for your material, and an arrangement for testing it.
FAQ
Does a 10 t/d pyrolysis machine load 10 tonnes in one batch?
No. Rated capacity is daily throughput across all batches in 24 hours, and the reactor is filled to about 70–85% of its volume to leave headspace for vapour. A 10 t/d batch pyrolysis machine typically holds several tonnes per batch and completes one cycle per day. When comparing offers, ask whether the quoted capacity is per batch or per day, and under what feedstock conditions it was tested.
Is a 1 t/d pyrolysis machine enough to start a business?
Rarely. Fixed costs do not shrink with the reactor: three operators, the permit work, the storage tanks and the site cost about the same at 1 t/d as at 10 t/d, so a 1 t/d pyrolysis machine returns only a few tens of dollars a day, while a 2 t/d model at identical prices returns a few hundred. Buy 1 t/d and below as testing capacity — enough to prove a yield and produce a sample for buyers — not as the arithmetic base of a business plan. If the budget only reaches 1 t/d, the stronger route is a frame-type pyrolysis machine for trials plus a contracted waste supply, then a 2 t/d model once the numbers are known.
How long does one batch actually take?
About 22 hours on a 10–12 t/d batch pyrolysis machine: one to one and a half hours feeding with an auto feeder, eight to ten hours heating and cracking, one hour vacuum purging, four hours fast cooling and one and a half to two hours discharge. Because only the heating stage produces oil, cycle time — not reactor size — sets your daily output.
How much electricity and fuel does a 10 t/d pyrolysis machine use?
Roughly 20 kW average load, about 480 kWh a day — around USD 30 at USD 0.06/kWh. Heating fuel before the syngas stabilises is about 0.4 t of coal (USD 44) or 0.4 t of pyrolysis oil (USD 200) per day; once the reactor reaches about 160 °C it runs on its own gas, which is why the choice of external fuel matters less than most buyers expect.
Can one pyrolysis machine handle tires, plastic and oil sludge?
Yes, but not in the same batch. Between switches the reactor is cleared and the temperature and feeding parameters are reset. Blending materials in one batch is not recommended, because the mixture behaves unpredictably and the resulting oil is harder to sell. A frame-type pyrolysis machine is the low-cost way to test each stream before committing to volume.
What happens if my feedstock supply drops for a month?
Batch and frame-type pyrolysis machines simply run fewer batches, and restarting costs little more than fuel. A fully continuous line is designed for steady feed, and running it far below rated input wastes the advantage you paid for — which is the single strongest argument for sizing a first pyrolysis machine to your weak-month supply.
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