Pyrolysis of varnish wastes based on a polyurethane

Varnish wastes based on a polyurethane were pyrolysed in a laboratory scale reactor at different residence time of gases in the reactor. Gaseous products generated were analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC and GC/MS). Thirty-one organic compounds were identified. The yields of the products obtained depend on the pyrolysis conversion. The main compounds obtained were CO, CO2, ethylene, naphthalene and acetylene. A thermogravimetric analysis of these wastes was also carried out. Several runs at different heating rates (5, 10, 15 and 20 degrees C min(-1)) were performed to study the sample weight loss as a function of temperature (between 25 and 700 degrees C). A correlation model, that considers three independent reactions, was applied to simulate the process. The values of the kinetic parameters were optimised. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.