Lifetime Prediction of Polymeric Materials

A special issue of Thermo (ISSN 2673-7264).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 January 2024) | Viewed by 11114

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The interest in the lifetime prediction of materials grows years by years, testified by an exponential growth of scientific works concerning this topic. This increasing trend is definitely due to the importance of some materials in our everyday life, and it is driven both by the need to investigate the durability of materials employed in structural applications, which can be fatal in the successful completion of the application for which the material was designed, and by the environmental concerns related to the disposal of these materials after their shelf life. The aspects related to the disposal of plastic materials are acquiring more and more importance, especially those related to food packaging. The polymer-packaging industry, and arguably the research on materials in general, is historically driven by the need to extend and implement the main materials’ function of protection and preservation, all aspects contributing to a long life and persistence in the environment after their use. The public’s anxiety about the problems derived from environmental issues increasingly pushes the industry and academia towards the design and development of materials that are cleanly disposed of or recycled after their use. Thus, in this sector, the study of material thermal properties is a crucial aspect to improve recyclability or provide a viable alternative; in particular, lifetime prediction plays a key role in facilitating both the design phase and the final disposition.

Prof. Dr. Ignazio Blanco
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • lifetime prediction
  • thermal stability
  • thermal behavior
  • materials degradation
  • thermogravimetric analysis
  • induction period
  • end of life
  • kinetics of degradation
  • decomposition

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 164 KiB  
Editorial
Lifetime Prediction of Polymeric Materials
by Ignazio Blanco
Thermo 2022, 2(2), 90-91; https://doi.org/10.3390/thermo2020008 - 1 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2069
Abstract
The wide category of organic materials containing polymers had a great impact on the last middle century, and continues to nowadays, thus affecting our daily behaviors. The need to investigate their durability has grown, which may be necessary in the successful completion of [...] Read more.
The wide category of organic materials containing polymers had a great impact on the last middle century, and continues to nowadays, thus affecting our daily behaviors. The need to investigate their durability has grown, which may be necessary in the successful completion of the application for which these materials were designed, and to mitigate their impact on the environment. The aim of this Special Issue was to allow researchers, in both Industry and Academia, to show their current research in material properties finalized to the lifetime prediction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lifetime Prediction of Polymeric Materials)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 21000 KiB  
Article
Significance and Optimization of Operating Parameters in Hydrothermal Carbonization Using RSM–CCD
by Numan Luthfi, Takashi Fukushima, Xiulun Wang and Kenji Takisawa
Thermo 2024, 4(1), 82-99; https://doi.org/10.3390/thermo4010007 - 18 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1782
Abstract
To ascertain the significance of temperature and residence time of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) in controlling hydrochar production, multiple regression was employed based on central composite design (CCD) to model the responses of mass yield (MY) and higher heating value (HHV). The hydrothermal reaction [...] Read more.
To ascertain the significance of temperature and residence time of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) in controlling hydrochar production, multiple regression was employed based on central composite design (CCD) to model the responses of mass yield (MY) and higher heating value (HHV). The hydrothermal reaction was explored at temperatures and times ranging from 150 to 250 °C and 0.5 to 3.5 h. Sorghum bagasse (SB) and microalgae (MA) were used to complex the reaction due to their differences in organic constituents. Simultaneously, the operating parameters were optimized by maximizing the response values under domain constraints in the HHV models. The results show that at least temperature and time in the linear system played a significant role in determining the solids recovery and the energy generation of hydrochars (p-values = 0.00), regardless of the biomass type. Moreover, the optimum conditions of SB and MA hydrochars can be achieved by increasing the temperature to the limit of 250 °C and prolonging the time to 3.5 and 3.25 h, respectively. Both respective conditions resulted in maximum HHVs of 27.54 and 35.83 MJ kg−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lifetime Prediction of Polymeric Materials)
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12 pages, 1661 KiB  
Article
The Thermochemical Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste by Torrefaction Process
by Maja Ivanovski, Darko Goričanec and Danijela Urbancl
Thermo 2023, 3(2), 277-288; https://doi.org/10.3390/thermo3020017 - 16 May 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2800
Abstract
In this work, the thermochemical properties of municipal solid waste (MSW) are studied using the torrefaction process as the main method for investigation. Torrefaction experiments were carried out using an electric laboratory furnace, at temperatures of 200, 250, and 300 °C. The residence [...] Read more.
In this work, the thermochemical properties of municipal solid waste (MSW) are studied using the torrefaction process as the main method for investigation. Torrefaction experiments were carried out using an electric laboratory furnace, at temperatures of 200, 250, and 300 °C. The residence time was set to 90 min. Proximate and ultimate analysis were performed on the torrefied MSW samples and compared with the properties of the raw MSW samples. In addition, the thermal properties of the obtained torrefied MSW samples were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric analysis (DTG). The following could be stated: the obtained results showed that mass and energy yields (MY and EY, respectively) decrease with increasing when torrefaction temperature, while the heating values (HHV) increased under the same conditions (from 24.3 to 25.1 MJ/kg). Elemental analysis showed an increase in carbon content (C), from 45.7 ± 0.9 to 52.8 ± 1.05 wt.%, and decrease in oxygen content (O), from 45.6 ± 0.9 to 39.5 ± 0.8 wt.%, when torrefaction temperature is increased, which is consistent with the general definition of the torrefaction process. In addition, enhancement factors (EFs) and fuel ratios (FRs) were calculated, which ranged from 1.00 to 1.02 and 0.16 to 0.23, respectively. Some anomalies were observed during the thermal analysis, which are assumed to be related to the composition of the selected MSW. This study therefore shows that torrefaction pretreatment can improve the physicochemical properties of raw MSW to a level comparable to coal, and could contribute to a better understanding of the conversion of MSW into a valuable, solid biofuel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lifetime Prediction of Polymeric Materials)
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18 pages, 3843 KiB  
Article
The Status of Pyrolysis Kinetics Studies by Thermal Analysis: Quality Is Not as Good as It Should and Can Readily Be
by Nikita V. Muravyev and Sergey Vyazovkin
Thermo 2022, 2(4), 435-452; https://doi.org/10.3390/thermo2040029 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3289
Abstract
This paper is a literature survey that focuses on the present development of thermokinetic publications. It demonstrates that in recent years pyrolysis kinetics has turned into a major application of the thermokinetics. Analysis of the respective publications suggests that too often their quality [...] Read more.
This paper is a literature survey that focuses on the present development of thermokinetic publications. It demonstrates that in recent years pyrolysis kinetics has turned into a major application of the thermokinetics. Analysis of the respective publications suggests that too often their quality leaves much to be desired because of the poor choices of the kinetic methods and experimental conditions. It is explained that the proper choices can be made by following the recommendations of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC). To help with improving the quality of the kinetic results, the ICTAC recommendations are condensed to a few easy to follow principles. These principles focus on selecting proper computational methods, collecting better experimental data, and efficiently reporting the results. The paramount computational principle is to avoid using the methods that evaluate the activation energy and other kinetic parameters from the data measured at a single heating rate. It is shown that the kinetic parameters evaluated by such methods can give rise to striking examples of failure when estimating the thermal stability at ambient temperature. Because of the vital importance of pyrolysis kinetics studies from an ecological and economical perspective, a substantial improvement of their quality is currently needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lifetime Prediction of Polymeric Materials)
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