Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :New Study Shows Plastic Energy's Recycling Technology Can Save up to 89% Emissions

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

New findings show recycling using Plastic Energy’s technology could provide up to 89% emission savings

New research has found recycling plastics, using Plastic Energy’s proprietary technology, currently saves up to 78% CO2 eq. compared to incineration with energy recovery.

These figures can increase to 89% with grid decarbonisation.

The results are part of the company’s latest Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, out today, completed by the climate change consultancy Sphera and commissioned by Plastic Energy.

It compares emissions created throughout the lifecycle of hard-to-recycle plastics in different scenarios, including recycling using Plastic Energy’s technology.

These findings build on the company’s first LCA released in 2020.

Plastic Energy’s Head of Policy and Sustainability Adela Putinelu said, “sharing this second LCA is an important milestone for both Plastic Energy, and the chemical recycling industry.

“Being able to properly quantify the environmental impact of our technology, underscores the benefit it provides to emissions, circularity and waste reduction of hard-to-recycle plastics.”

Plastic Energy’s TAC™ recycling process takes end of life post-consumer flexible plastic packaging, destined for incineration or landfill, and creates a recycled oil called TACOIL™.

This recycled oil goes on to replace fossil oils in the production of new plastics.

In this way, it can be viewed both as a waste reduction technology and a production process for creating new raw materials.

“This study demonstrates the possibility of our TAC™ process as a well-established chemical recycling technology producing a valuable alternative feedstock for the chemical industry, as well as serving as a novel waste management pathway,” Putinelu said.

source:Plastic Energy

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :Fatigue in Plastic Parts Failure

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Fatigue is a complicated aspect of plastic parts failure.

While most are aware of the need to keep frequency low in a fatigue test to avoid local heating of the sample, many may not be aware of the following extremely interesting tests to be done.

Let us say you test your sample (at some T and a given Stress Ratio, like 0.1) at 1 Hz and also 2 Hz.

Would you expect your part to fail after :

- the same number of cycles ? or

- the same testing time ?

Well, in a nutshell, if you fail at the same total time (twice the number of cycles) that indicates that your failure is Plasticity Controlled. A DUCTILE failure.

If you fail at the same number of cycles (i.e. half the testing time) your failure is Crack Growth controlled. A BRITTLE failure.

Of course things may be somewhat intermediate, but such simple tests will really inform you about the failure mechanism and help consider better materials for the application.

The test is particularly interesting for GF or CF filled polymers because the lack of visible deformation is often wrongly interpreted as BRITTLE fail !

source:Vito leo

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Study Reveals High Levels of PFHxA in Smartwatch and Tracker Bands

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Elevated levels of ‘forever chemicals’ found in several smartwatch wrist bands:

Smartwatches and fitness trackers have become ubiquitous forms of wearable tech, accompanying many people throughout their days (and nights). But they may expose the skin to so-called forever chemicals in the process. More expensive wristbands made from fluorinated synthetic rubber revealed particularly high amounts of one forever chemical, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), according to a study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

“This discovery stands out because of the very high concentrations of one type of forever chemical found in items that are in prolonged contact with our skin,” says Graham Peaslee, the corresponding author of the study.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals that are very good at two things — lasting seemingly forever in the environment and repelling water, sweat and oil. Because of the latter properties, manufacturers include these chemicals in many consumer products, such as stain-resistant bedding, menstrual products and fitness wear, including smartwatch and fitness tracker wristbands. The bands contain fluoroelastomers, synthetic rubbers made from chains of PFAS, to create a material that avoids discoloration and repels dirt. Though this durability makes the bands great for sweaty workouts, it might also present a source of these compounds to get under the wearer’s skin — literally. So, Peaslee and co-authors Alyssa Wicks and Heather Whitehead investigated several commercially available watchbands for the presence of fluorine as well as 20 individual PFAS.

The team screened 22 wristbands from a range of brands and price points, most of them newly purchased but a few previously worn. All of the 13 bands advertised as being made from fluoroelastomers contained the element fluorine. But two of the nine bands that did not advertise being made from fluoroelastomers also contained fluorine, which indicates the potential presence of PFAS. Of those tested, wristbands that cost more than $30 contained more fluorine than those under $15. Next, following a chemical extraction, all the wristbands were checked for 20 different PFAS. PFHxA was found to be the most common, appearing in nine of 22 tested wristbands. The median PFHxA concentration was found to be nearly 800 parts per billion (ppb), and one sample exceeded 16,000 ppb. Comparatively, previous research by the team in 2023 on cosmetics found a median concentration of around 200 ppb of PFAS. Currently, only six PFAS have federally defined exposure limits for drinking water in the U.S.; exposure limits for other PFAS and other exposure routes are still being studied.

“We have never seen extractable concentrations in the part-per-million range (>1000 ppb) for any wearable consumer product applied to the skin,” says Peaslee.

source:American Chemical Society

InnoPlast Solutions 33rd Conference on BioMass to Recycled Feedstocks

Planet-Friendly Plastics: BioMass-to-Recycled Feedstocks; the New Petroleum

WELCOME to InnoPlast Solutions 33rd Conference; 14th on Re-Invention of Plastics!

Date: March 12 (Wed) – March 13 (Thu) 2025

Location: Caesars Palace: Las Vegas

Agenda Includes:

Day-1:

Reduce/Eliminate Fossil-Feedstock

Biobased PE and PP

Biobased PET

Bio-Plastics; 1-Presentation Each on PEF, PHA, PLA, Nylon 6, Nylon 66 etc

Day-2:

Preserve/Respect Material Value and Safety

C-Emissions/Wastes for Building-Blocks

Recycling Advances for PE-PP-PET

To REGISTER, contact InnoPlast at 973-801-6212 or CLICK the link:

https://innoplastsolutions.com/conference/planet-friendly-plastics/

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :Wear is a common failure mode for plastic gears.

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Wear is a common failure mode for plastic gears.

It affects the transmission error and the resulting NVH, and in its final stages leads to a complete failure of the gear.

Wear control is therefore a standard step in a rating procedure of a new design of a plastic gear pair, or in an optimization process of an existing one.

Contact conditions between two meshing gears are very complex. There is:

⚙️ changing rolling-sliding ratio,

⚙️ load sharing (affected by the load-induced contact ratio increase),

⚙️ change in the direction of friction.

These complex conditions are challenging to replicate by any tribological test. Wear factors generated by gear-on-gear tests prove to provide the most reliable wear prediction calculations.

A quick overview of a gear meshing process :

The theoretical path of contact for the involute gears has the shape of a straight line. The gears start to mesh in point A; this is point A1 on the flank of drive gear and point A2 on the flank of the driven gear. In the meshing area A-B, two pairs of teeth are in contact, wherefore the transmitted load is divided between them. Point B is the highest point of single-tooth contact for the driven gear. In the area B-D, the total load is transmitted only through one pair of teeth hence the contact pressure and the stress in the material increases. Point D is the lowest point of single-tooth contact for the driven gear; at this point the next pair of teeth comes into contact and the load in the area D-E is again transmitted via two pairs of teeth. Meshing ends at point E; this is point E1 on the flank of the drive gear and point E2 on the flank of the driven gear. The load on a single tooth is not constant during meshing along the path of contact.

Rolling and sliding motion are present between the surfaces in contact. When the gears mesh from A to C, the flank part A1C1 on the drive gear meshes with the flank part A2C2 on the driven gear. Due to the different lengths of the flank parts in contact, specific sliding occurs between the surfaces in contact. Analogously, the same happens in the meshing part from C to E, except that when passing through the pitch point C (also kinematic point), the direction of sliding is reversed. In theory, there is no sliding in the pitch point C, only pure rolling; in reality however, due to tooth deflection, sliding also occurs in point C. The direction of sliding and the frictional force are reversed when passing through the pitch point C. On the driven gear, the direction of sliding always points towards the pitch point C, so the kinematic line is usually clearly visible on the worn gear surface.

source:Damijan Zorko

ENVALIOR ANNOUNCES NEW PPS COMPOUNDING FACILITY IN EUROPE

Envalior launches new PPS compounding facility in Uerdingen, Germany.

New facility supports growing demand for Xytron™ in Europe and the Americas.

To better serve growing customer demand in Europe and the Americas, Envalior – a global leader in sustainable and high-performance engineering materials – announces that it will invest in a PPS (Polyphenylene Sulfide) compounding facility in Europe.

Envalior’s PPS material Xytron™ combines a strong set of properties, including excellent chemical and hydrolysis resistance at elevated temperatures, extremely stable heat aging performance up to 240°C, very good and stable electrical properties at elevated temperatures, low moisture absorption with high dimensional stability, and inherent flame retardance that meets UL94 V0. 

Since 2016, when Xytron™ entered the market, the PPS material has built a strong track record across OEMs and tier customers. The new facility will provide local supply and additional services to customers in Europe while also supporting the Americas with more diverse supply options.

“Xytron™ is now widely recognized as one of the most high-performance, innovative, and sustainable PPS brands in the market. We are observing increased demand for Xytron™, particularly from customers in Europe and the Americas. Our strategy focuses on increased convenience and better service, including increased agility for new product development and technical support, enhanced sample availability, shorter lead times and improved security of supply," said Angela Zheng, Global Business Manager for Xytron™ at Envalior.

Xytron™ PPS production in Uerdingen, Germany is expected to begin in the second half of 2025. 

source: Envalior

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Sulzer launches PyroConTM to enhance plastic and biomass waste reduction

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Sulzer’s new PyroCon technology rapidly cools the gases emitted during pyrolysis, a process that heats and liquefies plastic without oxygen, limiting harmful pollutants. The resulting pyrolysis oil can be used as a fuel or refined to produce valuable chemicals. PyroCon's rapid cooling (quenching) of the pyrolysis gases prevents further chemical reactions and potential product degradation, improving quality and yield for the circular economy and helping to reduce plastic waste.

Drawing on its success at Indaver’s Plastics2Chemicals plant in Belgium, and the legacy of its plastic waste projects at Quantafuel (Denmark) and Carboliq (Germany), Sulzer is proud to add PyroCon, its new rapid condensing technology for biomass and plastic pyrolysis, to its portfolio of chemical technology solutions.

Improving quality and yields:

PyroCon addresses key critical operational challenges including anti-fouling technology, low maintenance design, flexible capacity and feedstocks, ranging from polyolefins (PP/PE) and polystyrene (PS) to bio-mass waste residues. The solution is further designed to allow optimal reaction control for pyrolysis processes by rapidly quenching pyrolysis products, leading to increased yields.

Promoting a circular economy :

PyroCon optimizes superheated vapor condensation through unique liquid recirculation in a compact design capable of handling up to 600°C vapor inlet temperatures, joining other Sulzer Chemtech solutions that are essential to promoting circularity for solvents, chemicals, and plastics. “We are continually striving to improve efficiencies and create value for our clients,” said Tim Schulten, President of Sulzer Chemtech. “Our new PyroCon technology effectively ensures the integrity of the plastics and bio-waste pyrolysis process, making it a valuable technology for sustainable waste management and energy recovery.” 

source:Sulzer