Pyrolysis of polyurethanes

Littorin, M., Truedsson, L., Welinder, H.. Skarping, G, Martensson, U. Sjohohn, A.G (1994) Acute respiratory disorder, rhinoconjimctivitis and fever associated with the pyrolysis of polyurethane derived from diphenylmethane diisocyanate. Scand. J. Work Environ. Health, 20,216-222... 

Research on the pyrolysis of thermoset plastics is less common than thermoplastic pyrolysis research. Thermosets are most often used in composite materials which contain many different components, mainly fibre reinforcement, fillers and the thermoset or polymer, which is the matrix or continuous phase. There has been interest in the application of the technology of pyrolysis to recycle composite plastics [25, 26]. Product yields of gas, oil/wax and char are complicated and misleading because of the wide variety of formulations used in the production of the composite. For example, a high amount of filler and fibre reinforcement results in a high solid residue and inevitably a reduced gas and oiFwax yield. Similarly, in many cases, the polymeric resin is a mixture of different thermosets and thermoplastics and for real-world samples, the formulation is proprietary information. Table 11.4 shows the product yield for the pyrolysis of polyurethane, polyester, polyamide and polycarbonate in a fluidized-bed pyrolysis reactor [9]. 

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