Energy-efficient scientific-technological approaches to the processing of plastic waste PET, PE, PP, PS to produce hydrogen-containing gas and titanium carbide powder

Abstract

The paper considers gaseous products, structure and phase composition of hard products resulting from high-temperature exothermic reactions between Ti–PET–(PE, PP, PS) system components, depending on the content of oxygen-free polymers polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) in the initial blend. It is found that the addition of PE, PP, PS polymers to the Ti–PET system increases the hydrogen content from 45 to 62 vol% and reduces the carbon monoxide content from 38 to 20 vol% in gaseous products. According to calculations, the adiabatic flame temperature of the synthesized gas in air is very close to that of pure hydrogen. The synthesized gas can therefore be used as ecological fuel for energy sources. On the other hand, oxygen-free polymers presenting in the system provide the formation of substoichiometric carbide TiC0.75. Its hardness is not lower than that of stoichiometric TiC and even exceeds widely used carbides and borides of transition metals. In addition, the agglomerate structure of synthesized TiC0.75 allows to apply it as a promising ecological basis for highly-efficient abrasive pastes, in particular for polishing and finishing fabricated metal products.