Development of Material Recycling Technology for Phenolic Resin Products

Abstract

Phenolic resin is used in many automotive parts, electrical appliances, and other mechanical parts, because it is superior to many thermoplastics in heat resistance, electrical insulation and fire-resistance. Phenolic scraps, however, can not be remelted for recycling and voluminous wastes mest be dumped in landfill sites. The prime purpose of this study is to develop a material recycling technology to reuse the wastes in the molding process. The results obtained are as follows: (1) The generation of dust particles could be controlled by adding alcohol to the mxture of crushed waste material and virgin compounds. The result is that recycled compounds with virgin compounds could be conveyed to the molding process for reuse without generation of dust particles. (2) We checked the moldability in injection molding. In consuquence, it became evident that recycled compounds which have 33wt% of crushed materials possesses the same moldability in appearance as 100% virgin molding compounds. (3) We executed the mechanical properties, tensile test, frexural test and deflection temperature test. We reached a conclution that recycled compounds which have 23wt% of crushed materials possesses the same mechanical property as 100% virgin compounds. (4) This recycling technology can be put to practical use and should contribute to the reduction of environmental impact.