Analysis of pollutants evolved from combustion and pyrolysis of flexible polyurethane foam in a laboratory furnace

Abstract

Every year 30 million mattresses reach their end of life in Europe, being land9ll the 9nal destination of 60<% of this waste and incineration for the rest 40<%. In January of 2030, only 5<% of the total municipal waste could be land9lled; this fact together with the diFculties associated with mattresses recycling, make the incineration the best option for mattresses waste management. 42<% of the mattresses produced in Europe in 2013 were made from polyurethane, 45<% were spring mattresses, 11<% were latex mattresses and the rest made from other compounds. Bearing in mind this distribution, it is important to study the thermal degradation of Kexible polyurethane foam (FPUF), one of the most used materials to produce mattresses. In the present study, the evolved products from the combustion and pyrolysis of FPUF at 550 and 850 ºC have been analysed employing a horizontal quartz laboratory scale reactor. The study includes the analysis of ammonia, carbon oxides, light hydrocarbons, semivolatile compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorobenzenes (ClBzs), chlorophenols (ClPhs), polychlorinated dibenzopdioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and “dioxin-like” polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in duplicate.