Abstract
<p>Three materials were made with mixtures of virgin expanded polystyrene (EPS) grade S3 and recycled material from multipurpose EPS packaging. The latter was subjected to washing and grinding in a blade mill, with percentages by weight of recycled material 10, 15, and 20%. The mechanical properties of these materials were evaluated by testing compressive strength and flexural, impact, and thermal properties using the techniques of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. Hot plate and steady state temperature profiles in a non-steady state were simulated with Octave 3.6.4. The results obtained for the three mixtures showed little variation in the properties of compression, impact, glass transition, and thermal diffusivity with respect to the reference material. The regularity of the decline in mass loss as a function of temperature evidences homogeneity in the samples. The flexural strength decreased the maximum failure load compared to the virgin material, and the thermal conductivity exceeded 0.06W/mK, reducing their insulating capacity. These materials can be industrially manufactured in order to produce packaging, caissons, and spheres, among other things.</p>
Highlights
Three materials were made with mixtures of virgin expanded polystyrene (EPS) grade S3 and recycled material from multipurpose EPS packaging
All data obtained from the thermal diffusivity measurements were determined on the order of 10-9 m2/s; that is to say, as for the reference material, EPS10, EPS15, and EPS20 can be characterized as poor diffusers, since the rate of heat propagation during temperature changes is very low, as shown in Figure 4, as determined by the simulations in Octave over 2500 min by means of the one-dimensional temperature distribution profiles in the four formulations, showing very similar results
Materials consisting of EPSv and EPSr mixtures containing recycled material from food industry wastes in weight percentages of 10, 15, and 20, were produced using a secondary reprocessing method
Summary
Three materials were made with mixtures of virgin expanded polystyrene (EPS) grade S3 and recycled material from multipurpose EPS packaging. Its use in food and electronics packaging, airplane and automotive parts, and sporting equipment, among other applications, has increased in the last few years due to its advantages of being light weight, easy to form, acoustic and thermally insulating, inexpensive to produce, cushioning, dimensionally stable, and heat and moisture resistant [3]–[5]. In Colombia, the expandable polystyrene manufacturing industry produces and markets long life-cycle products, such as geoblocks, cornices, insulation systems for construction and refrigerators, as well as short life-cycle products, such as multipurpose boxes and packaging systems for the transport of fragile goods and boxes, to name a few. The amount of plastic materials used in Colombia has increased from 169,000 tons in 2005 to 209,655 tons in 2010, which corresponds to 27.5% of the apparent consumption of virgin plastic resins [7]
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