[Gasification] plastic gasification?

[jim mason]

what is the experience here with gasifying plastics?  though i've
mixed in small amounts of PET, i've never tried to run completely on
it or others.

my first guess is that it will not work, as there is usually no fixed,
independent carbon in plastic, but rather various polymers, repeating.
 thus it seems it will not form char.  or maybe the hydrogen to carbon
bonds are weaker than the carbon to carbon bonds, and thus under heat
the hydrogens come off first, leaving long chains of double bonded
carbons?  this is what the molecule looks like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene.

"gasifying" plastics seems like it would be better done as thermal
"vaporization".  heat alone should break the double bonds of things
like PET, and what should come off is ethelyne (C2H4) molecules.  the
monomer form.  such would be useful in many directions.

anyone have a summary of the thermal handling of plastics in various
families?  i continue to rue my minimal organic chemistry background .
. .

j




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jim mason
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