Vinyl compound is found in every facet of our daily lives. It is a versatile workhorse material that can be used when making everything from medical tubing to backyard decking to power cable jackets.
If you look around you right now, you will find countless objects that have some PVC component. Ethylene, a natural gas derivative, is supplied by the petrochemical industry. It is captured during a process called thermal cracking. Liquid petroleum is heated in steam furnaces and put under extreme pressure. This creates changes in the molecular weight of the chemicals found in petroleum feedstock. Changing the molecular weight allows ethylene to be identified, segmented and captured.
It is then cooled back down to a liquid state. Chlorine, which is found in salt extracted from sea water, gains an additional electron during the process of electrolysis. Polyvinyl Chloride can be injected just like other plastics, but chlorine in the material complicates the process. This is because melted PVC can give off a corrosive, toxic gas.
Accordingly, shops need to be equipped with good ventilation systems. Those that aren't are likely to be hesitant to work with the material. Additionally, unique corrosive resistant materials like stainless steel or chrome plating are required for the mold tool when injection molding PVC plastic.
Shrinkage in PVC tends to be between one and two percent. It can still vary based on several factors, including material durometer hardness , gate size, holding pressure, holding time, melt temperature, mold wall thickness, mold temperature, and the percentage and type of additives.
PVC can pose a health hazard when burned as it emits hydrogen chloride HCl fumes. In applications where the likelihood of fire is high, PVC free electrical wire insulation is sometimes preferred. Fumes can also be emitted when melting the material such as during prototyping and manufacturing processes like 3D printing , CNC machining , and injection molding. We recommend taking a look at the Material Safety Data Sheets MSDS for different chlorinated hydrocarbon gases like chlorobenzene and discussing the production process with a professional manufacturer.
PVC provides industries with a series of critical advantages that have cemented its place as one of the most popular and widely used plastics on the market. These advantages include:. PVC's advantages helped solidify its place as one of the most used plastics around the world. However, even though it's widely effective and popular, you have to consider some factors when using the material.
While PVC has a host of advantages that make it a desirable material to work with, there are some reasons to take caution. The disadvantages that you have to account for when using PVC include:. Although there are some shortcomings, Polyvinyl Chloride is an excellent material overall. It has a unique blend of qualities that make it particularly useful for the construction business.
By taking note and accounting for the shortcomings of the material, you can effectively navigate and compensate so you can effectively use the material in your upcoming projects. Topics: Plastics. Our expertise and unique collaborative process alleviates your stress and helps take your Design, Engineering and Prototyping process to the next level.
Home About Contact Blog. Email: info creativemechanisms. The Recofloor scheme, managed by Axion Consulting Ltd, provides a mechanism for waste vinyl flooring to be collected and recycled.
The scheme accepts uplifted vinyl flooring and post-installation off-cuts. The recycled flooring can be used in the manufacture of new flooring or to produce traffic management products such as traffic cones and road sign bases.
For further information, please visit, www. The scheme involves the collection of used PVC medical devices including IV solution bags; nasal cannulas; oxygen tubes; anaesthetic masks and oxygen masks. With around hospitals in the UK, estimates put the total tonnage of PVC waste at over 2, tonnes per annum. The report, published June , showed PVC products to be comparable to alternatives in their environmental impact.
The report can be downloaded from the Europa website. Eco-profiles provide environmental analysis for a product from 'cradle-to-gate' as opposed to the 'cradle-to-grave' approach of Life Cycle Assessment. A Total Cost of Ownership study takes into account all costs associated with a product over its entire life cycle. The study focussed on three particular applications; windows, flooring and outdoor pipes, utilising data from Germany and Italy judged to be a fair representation of conditions in north and south European countries.
The study concluds that not only does PVC provide decisive cost advantages due to its low initial purchase price but also in its low cost of ownership throughout the life of the product.
Click here to download the final report. Click here to download the ECVM leaflet. Since the 90's , the European PVC Industry has been working hard to embrace its responsibility to the challenge of sustainable development. The European PVC Industry's ten-year Voluntary Committment to Sustainable Development, know as Vinyl , made exceptional progress in waste management, recycling and the responsible use of additives.
Following the conclusion of the Vinyl ten year programme, new targets for sustainable development were launched as part of the successor VinylPlus programme. For more information, please visit www. In creating VinylPlus, the industry has chosen to work in an open process of extensive stakeholder dialogue, including private companies, NGOs, regulators, politicians and users of PVC.
Five key challenges have been identified as priorities according to The Natural Step system conditions for a sustainable society:. The Natural Step Framework is an internationally recognised method for sustainability planning that integrates the science of sustainability with business decision-making.
BPF Vinyls Group. For further information on PVC, please visit www. If you would like to source some PVC, please complete the form below and the BPF will send your enquiry direct to relevant companies in membership. British Plastics Federation. Polymer Prices. Member Offers. International Market Data. Sales Leads.
Chemical Legislation. Get Funding. Promote Your Company. Health and Safety. Legal Support. BPF Branding. Communication Tools. In China, PVC is produced in the calcium carbide method or in the ethylene method. PVC produced in the calcium carbide method is mainly used in the production of low-end pipes because it contains a large amount of vinyl chloride residues. While PVC made from ethylene, containing little vinyl chloride residue, can be used to produce refined high-end PVC products that cannot be produced with PVC made from calcium carbide.
In , China surpassed the U.
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