Chemical Recycling of Polymer Materials

After the first life cycle of plastics various recycling processes are available for further utilization of these valuable materials. For an ecologically and economically satisfying solution the most suitable process has to be chosen. In chemical recycling polymers are degraded to basic chemical substances which can be reused in the petrochemical industry. For soiled waste plastics or waste plastics which could not be recycled until now, chemical recycling plays a key role. The pyrolysis of acrylic polymers provides a good example for comparing a fluidized-bed reactor and a tubular reactor on the basis of reactor modelling evaluations. The used tubular reactor with internal mass transport is a simplified model for a rotary kiln. Relevant parameters for reactor design and scale-up are presented.