Information about Various Plastics

Forty families of useful plastics will be surveyed, subdivided traditionally into thermoplastics and thermosets. It is roughly possible to sort the poly- 

Intermediates consist of ABS, SAN, PMMA (acrylics) and engineering derivatives of cellulose like CAB (cellulose acetate butyrate), their relative price reaching around 2 (on the basis of PE as unity). Some consider these polymers at the low range of engineering polymers, due to their physical properties. (PP is frequently sorted as such.) 

The engineering polymers that have already reached maturity consist of the Nylons (PA), polycarbonate (PC), acetal (POM), polyesters (PBT and PET) and Noryl (PPO). Their relative price is aroxmd 3. Including very novel polymers, a prestigious high priced group consists of the advanced engineering polymers (high performance) polysulfone (PSU), polyphenylene-sulfide (PPS), fluoroethylenes (PTFE and its derivatives), polyamide-imide (PAI), polyether-imide (PEI), polyethersulfone (PES), polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), aromatic polyesters and polyamides, polyarylates and liquid-crystal-polymers (LCP). 

Here the price ratio reaches 10-50 (sometimes even more) but the performances are outstanding. Each polymer will be described in detail, followed by tables and data regarding properties, uses and prices. From year to year prices vary with surprises and fluctuations, but the relative rate of consumption is the determining factor. 

The reaction is very rapid (seconds) and conversion to polymer reaches 10-30% (to avoid excessive heating), followed by separation of a mixture of polymer and monomer, the latter being recycled in the process. The product, PE, is conveyed as a melt into an extmder then emerging as pellets. The range of molecular weight is  

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A Plasticizer Information Center with information about various types of plasticizers may be found online at http //www.plasticisers.org/index.asp page=2... 

Detailed information about various piping products and their applications can be obtained from the Plastic Pipe Institute and plastic pipe mannfacturers. 

Information about the market introduction of new additives is easily accessible by means of various annual reports in Plastics Engineering (e.g. refs [75,76]), Modern Plastics International [77], Plastics Additives and Compounding (e.g. ref. [78]) or otherwise (Additives for Polymers, etc.), as well as regular conferences such as AddCon, AddPlast and SPE meetings. For business opportunities for 2002-2006, see ref. [79]. 

Extrusion —summarized the main types of plastic employed, and subsequent sections of that chapter included relevant information about additives of various kinds. It is not appropriate here to consider the extrusion of the various materials in detail but some of the most important points linked with the finishes obtained are noted as follows ... 

Gasification of waste plastics in a plasma reactor and the application of the high calorific gas produced for production of electricity, followed by using waste heat from the turbine for steam generation, has been presented by German inventors [50]. There is no information about process efficiency and the main advantage of the solution is the possibility of using various feed compositions. 

This chapter gives information about some of the flame retardant products on the market and discusses their applications in various plastics. Comments are made with regard to the eventual destinations and fitness-for-purpose of the materials. 

Finally, the plastics database CAMPUS should be mentioned here. About forty plastics manufacturers have joined forces to compile a database for their customers. This provides information on the most important physical-chemical parameters and processing properties of all plastic materials on the market and in particular of the HDPE resins according to a unified scheme. The website www.campusplastics.com provides information on the database and access to the various data sets of the companies involved. 

As mentioned above, a limited thermal stability of PVC requires the addition of heat stabilizers in almost all fields of application. Besides, also other additives (e.g., light stabilizers, fillers, lubricants) are used to modify the properties of PVC or to improve its processability. At present, about 1/3 of all used PVC is plasticized by various types of modifiers. Therefore, it is helpful to get some detailed information about the composition of a special PVC scrap before re-use. 

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