Pyrolysis of Low and High Density Polyethylene. Part I: Non-isothermal Pyrolysis Kinetics

Abstract

Thermal decomposition kinetics of low- and high-density polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE) were investigated. Thermal degradation of raw and waste LDPE and HDPE was performed using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) in nitrogen atmosphere under non-isothermal conditions. Heating rates between 5 and 50 K/min were employed in TGA experiments. First-order decomposition reaction was assumed, and for the kinetic analysis an integral method was used. The apparent activation energy (E_a) and the pre-exponential factor (k_o) were evaluated. It was found that value of the kinetic parameters and apparent activation energy of HDPE were larger than the LDPE.

Keywords:

• kinetic analysis
• polyethylene
• TGA
• thermal degradation

Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK—Project No: MISAG-243) and to State Planning Organization (DPT—Project No: 2003K120470-33) for funding the work described in this article.