Pyrolysis of polyamide 6 under catalytic conditions and its application to reutilization of carpets

H. Bockhorn, S. Donner, M. Gernsbeck, A. Hornung, U. Hornung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

ε-caprolactam is a monomer of high value. Therefore, the chemical reutilization of polyamide 6 containing carpets for ε-caprolactam recovery offers some economic benefit and is performed on a technical scale with the help of the Zimmer-process. By this process polyamide 6 is depolymerized with steam and phosphoric acid. An alternative to this process is the thermal depolymerization - catalyzed or non-catalyzed. To investigate this alternative in more detail, the formal kinetic parameters of (i) the thermal depolymerization of polyamide 6, (ii) the thermal depolymerization in presence of sodium/potassium hydoxide, and (iii) the thermal depolymerization in presence of phosphoric acid are determined in this work. Based on the kinetics of the catalyzed or non-catalyzed depolymerization a stepwise pyrolysis procedure is designed by which the formation of ε-caprolactam from polyamide 6 can be separated from the formation of other pyrolysis products.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)79-94
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis
Volume58-59
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2001

Keywords

  • polymide 6
  • nylon 6
  • thermal degradation
  • catalysis
  • stepwise pyrolysis

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