Abstract
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a versatile material. However the disposal of PVC-based waste is problematic because of its high content of chlorine. When incinerated, it is prone to produce
hydrochloric acid which corrodes equipment, and is also a precursor for dioxin formation. This results
in the release of dangerous pollutants into the atmosphere. Among the many applications of PVC,
flexible PVC medical tubing is of interest for this research. A process using steam that could be
implemented to fulfill both the need of sterilization and dehydrochlorination of this waste was evaluated. The results indicate that the presence of steam during the dehydrochlorination under atmospheric pressure conditions improved performance in both the maximal dehydrochlorination degree achieved by around 15%, and the reaction rate became around 50% faster in comparison to the dry process in only helium atmosphere. The reaction could be modeled as an apparent first order reaction with an activation energy of 120 kJ mol-1. It can be assumed that the steam improved the dehydrochlorination by acting as an effective heat and mass transfer medium.
