Theoretical and experimental studies on the thermal decomposition of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dibutyl phosphate

Ionic liquid, an organic molten salt, has efficient flame-retardant performance. Few researchers have attempted to study its flame-retardant mechanism. Moreover, thermal stability and pyrolysis products have a great impact on the flame retardancy. Therefore, this paper focused on the phosphate ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dibutyl phosphate ([Bmim][DBP]) and analyzed its thermal decomposition products and characteristics. The major bond energies of [Bmim][DBP] were calculated using B3LYP/6–311++G(d,p)//M06–2X/6–311++G(d,p) level. The experimental results show that the pyrolysis products were as followed: alkane or alkene with a carbon chain length of 1–4; imidazole and its derivatives; esters. Furthermore, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer were utilized to measure the gaseous products and solid phase products of [Bmim][DBP], which were obtained during thermogravimetric analysis. The results of theoretical and experimental analysis were highly consistent. Finally, the possible flame-retardant mechanism of [Bmim][DBP] was proposed.     

Effect of superfine KHCO3 and ABC powder on ignition sensitivity of PMMA dust layer

In order to evaluate the flame-retardant capacity of KHCO₃ and ABC on the ignition of PMMA dust layer accumulation on hot surfaces, the ignition time and critical heating temperature of PMMA/KHCO₃ and PMMA/ABC dust layer were experimentally investigated. The thermal stability of the mixed dust, the condensed phase products and gas phase products of the mixed dust combustion were analyzed to reveal the flame-retardant mechanism. The ignition time of 30 μm PMMA was obviously longer than that of 5 μm PMMA, and the critical heating temperature was close to that of 5 μm PMMA. KHCO₃ and ABC could greatly extend the ignition time of the PMMA dust layer and increase the critical heating temperature of the dust layer. ABC was more effective than KHCO₃. The decomposition of KHCO₃ and ABC absorbed the heat and inhibits the pyrolysis of PMMA. The HPO₃ and P₂O₅ generated by the decomposition of ABC would cover the surface of PMMA aggregates or particles and act as a physical barrier. The main light combustible gas produced by PMMA pyrolysis were CO and C₂H₄. The CO₂ generated during the decomposition of KHCO₃ could dilute the combustible gas in the ambient to inhibit the combustion of PMMA.     

Use of recycled plastics in wood plastic composites – A review

The use of recycled and waste thermoplastics has been recently considered for producing wood plastic composites (WPCs). They have great potential for WPCs manufacturing according to results of some limited researches. This paper presents a detailed review about some essential properties of waste and recycled plastics, important for WPCs production, and of research published on the effect of recycled plastics on the physical and mechanical properties of WPCs.     

Trends in waste plastics and recycling

Zero emission is an ambitious project aimed at the conversion of the conventional top-down or one-directional flow type production systems of modern society to those of a recycling type. The basic idea underlying this project is to understand in detail the material flow mechanism in a particular segment of society and to evaluate the transformability of the hitherto one-directional types of process into recycling types. The authors, members of the Zero-Emission Research Group of Japan, are investigating the material flow of plastics in Japan. The present work describes the features of this project, as well as the results obtained so far. Received: May 28, 1998 / Accepted: October 16, 1998     

Effect of scale on flame speeds of methane-air

Explosions are the main types of accidents causing casualties in underground coal mines. Research on the mechanisms of gas explosions is needed as a basis for the development of techniques and strategies for explosion prevention, suppression, and mitigation. The prevention of loss in explosion accidents and inquiries into their causes require understanding of the explosion process of methane in air. Because of the high cost and safety issues in full scale experiments, the experiments with small scale ducts have become a key alternative approach. Whether the experimental results at small scales agree with those at full scales needs to be investigated to validate the significance of the experimental results at small scale. Numerical simulation was used to obtain the explosion characteristics of a methane-air mixture in a gallery or duct. If the grid size is too fine in the numerical simulation for a methane-air explosion it is difficult to calculate using the present computer resource. If the grid size is too coarse, the considerable error may result. The effect of grid size on results of calculation depends on the scenario being investigated. The effect of grid sizes on simulation accuracy was analyzed in this work. The overpressure and temperature distributions and the flame propagation for the deflagration of methane-air mixtures in a gallery or duct were obtained by the AutoReaGas code at three different scales. The geometry of investigated objects and the grids in the calculation domain were similar in the three cases. The calculated overpressures vary with the scale. The calculated temperatures do not vary with the scale for the three cases.     

Thermogravimetric pyrolysis of waste polyethylene-terephthalate and polystyrene: A critical assessment of kinetics modelling

Pyrolysis is considered as possible technique to thermally convert waste plastics into chemicals and energy. Literature on experimental findings is extensive, although experiments are mostly performed in a dynamic heating mode, using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and at low values of the heating rate (mostly below 30 K/min). The present research differs from literature through the application of far higher heating rates, up to 120 K/min. The use of these dynamic results to define the reaction kinetics necessitates the selection of an appropriate reaction mechanism, and 21 models have been proposed in literature considering the rate limiting step being diffusion, nucleation or the reaction itself.The current research studied the cracking of PET and PS by TGA at different heating rates (temperature ramps). Results were used to check the validity of the proposed mechanisms. Several conclusions are drawn: (i) to obtain fair results, the heating ramp should exceed a minimum value, calculated at 30 K/min for PET and 80 K/min for PS; (ii) application of the majority of the models to experimental findings demonstrated that they do not meet fundamental kinetic considerations and are questionable in their use; and (iii) simple models, with reaction order 1 or 2, provide similar results of the reaction activation energy.A further comparison with literature data for dynamic and isothermal experiments confirms the validity of these selected models. Since TGA results are obtained on a limited amount of sample, with results being a strong function of the applied heating rate, the authors believe that isothermal experiments, preferably on a large scale both towards equipment and/or sample size, are to be preferred.     

镁铝双氢氧化物对无卤阻燃EVA的协效阻燃效果研究

利用共沉淀法合成了镁铝双氢氧化物（MgAl-LDH）,采用熔融共混的方法,制备了含Mgal—LDH片层的无卤阻燃EVA纳米复合材料,通过多种表征手段分析研究了MgAl-LDH对无卤阻燃EVA（乙烯-醋酸乙烯酯共聚物）的协效阻燃效果。扫描电镜（SEM）和透射电镜（TEM）的结果表明LDH的片层能够促进阻燃剂在EVA基体中的分散;锥形量热仪（Conecalorimetry）燃烧测试表明协效阻燃EVA的热释放速率相对于纯阻燃EVA显著降低,其他主要燃烧参数也有同样的变化趋势,说明MgAl-LDH具有良好的协效阻燃作用。材料的燃烧残余物的形貌分析表明,LDH协效阻燃EVA在燃烧过程中能形成致密而连续的保护层,有效阻隔材料在燃烧过程中气体挥发物的扩散和与燃烧环境间能量的交换,提高燃烧残留量,降低材料的火灾危险性。     

有障碍物半开口管道内氢气燃烧数值模拟研究

基于有障碍物氢气燃烧实验装置进行数值模拟研究,采用Fluent软件分析了半开口管道内障碍物对氢气/空气燃烧特性的影响。结果表明:障碍物会促进实验管段内氢气火焰加速,随着障碍物阻塞率和数量的增加,火焰加速更快且燃烧压力峰值更大;在相同阻塞率下,障碍物形状对氢气火焰速度和燃烧压力峰值的影响很小;燃烧压力随障碍物间距的增大先增大后减小,障碍物间距为3倍管道内径时产生的燃烧压力峰值最大。     

土壤中塑料与微生物的相互作用及其生态效应

聚焦于土壤环境中包括微塑料在内的塑料污染,综述了微生物与土壤塑料相互作用的最新研究成果.主要内容包括：（i）土壤塑料的来源、迁移及其在土壤中长期贮存的基本特征;（ii）土壤微生物对塑料的影响;（iii）塑料污染对土壤微生物群落及酶活性、土壤动物、农作物生产以及对全球陆地生态系统功能的影响.最后,本文展望了未来相关研究的重点方向,包括功能微生物、实验参数设置、塑料圈、塑料与土壤微生物的大尺度及长期研究等,为从微生物角度认识和解决土壤塑料污染问题提供参考.