Effect of Increasing Course of Temperature and Pressure on Polypropylene Degradation in Supercritical Water*

The effect of increasing course of temperature and pressure on polypropylene (PP) degradation in supercritical water was investigated for developing a process of recycling waste plastic. A group of experiments was carried out in a reaction system at a pressure of 26MPa, temperature of 380°C or 400°C for 30min, 70min, and 120min by Course One (the increasing course of temperature and pressure is via gaseous regions to supercritical regions), and the other group was carried out at corresponding holding conditions by Course Two (the increasing course of temperature and pressure is via liquid regions to supercritical regions). The time of the increasing courses was about 30min. Products were analyzed by Ostward-type viscometer, gaseous chromatography, and mass spectrometers (GC/MS). Characterization results suggested that different increasing courses of temperature and pressure would give rise to different results, although they were treated under the similar holding conditions. It was also found that Course Two was more effective on PP degradation in supercritical water.