Kinetic study of polymer incineration

Abstract The objective of this research was to study the incineration of four kinds of polymeric materials: acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and high density polyethlyene (HDPE). Experiments were performed in a simulated isothermal combustor. Polymer combustion was observed, and the weight change of the polymeric materials with various initial particle sizes in ignition and burning steps at different isothermal temperatures was recorded. These experiments allow us to derive an empirical equation for the complete incineration time, including both ignition and burning steps.