Assessment of Chemical and Mechanical Properties of Polymers Aiming to Replace the Stainless Steel in Distillation Column

Abstract

Small scale ethanol production process faces a number of challenges that negatively impact productivity and economic costs. The present work aims at finding alternative materials with lower cost and suitable resistance to replace the stainless steel commonly used in distillation columns in small scale businesses. For that we analyzed the chemical and mechanical behavior of nine different polymeric materials. An important parameter to consider in this case is the compatibility of polymer with the ethanol, which was determined according to the ASTM D543, as well as the swelling degree and ethanol diffusion in material being also studied in this work. Three-point flexural tests were performed because the material when in service is subjected to forces or loads. The results show that some of the materials under test present chemical resistance and satisfactory mechanic performance after the contact with the ethanol in temperatures compatible with the distillation process.

Aging Behavior and Modeling Studies of Unsaturated Polyester Resin and Unsaturated Polyester Resin-Based Blends

“…9.2, show that water penetration is not totally reversible. Comparable results were obtained for UP immersion in ethanol (Table 9.1) [8]; where mass uptake curves displayed a maximum followed by a decrease ascribed to the leaching of small molecules, and the ultimate stress decreased with ethanol aging. However, one sees that a σ R decrease cannot be explained only by ethanol ingress.…”

“…• the interaction of UPRs with water leads first to a weight increase corresponding to water absorption, but later a mass decrease is observed corresponding to the leaching of small molecules even in fully cured matrices [17]. • UPRs display a strong drop in their mechanical properties in the presence of gaseous ethanol at 90 C or 115 C [8], whereas ethanol is only poorly soluble in UP.…”

A Membrane Filter-Assisted Mammalian Cell-Based Biosensor Enabling 3D Culture and Pathogen Detection

“…We also investigated other membranes for the 3D scaffold culture system. However, for polypropylene is it is difficult to provide surface modifications with ethanol due to its resistant property to organic chemicals [ 41 ]. Polyvinyl chloride has low thermal stability, inducing the collapse of the membrane scaffold depending on the cell culture temperature [ 42 ].…”

Conversion of Plastic Waste into Supports for Nanostructured Heterogeneous Catalysts: Application in Environmental Remediation

“…Plastics generally have good chemical resistance, but in all polymers, the chemical resistance is inversely proportional to temperature, since the diffusion of low molecular weight molecules is hampered by the degree of packaging of the macromolecules [64].…”