Plastics are derived from natural, organic materials ch as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil.
how to make plastic Crude oil a complex mixture of thoands of compounds and needs to be proceed before it can be ed.
Each fraction a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of the ze and structure of their molecules. One of these fractions, naphtha, the crucial compound for the production of plastics.
The production of plastics begins with the dtillation of crude oil in an oil refinery.
Two main procees are ed to produce plastics - polymeration and polycondensation - and they both reqre specific catalysts. In a polymeration reactor, monomers ch as ethylene and propylene are linked together to form long polymer chains. Each polymer has its own properties, structure and ze depending on the vario types of bac monomers ed.
Th separates the heavy crude oil into groups of lighter components, called fractions.
There are many different types of plastics, and they can be grouped into two main polymer families:
Thermoplastics (which soften on heating and then harden again on cooling).
Thermosets (which never soften once they have been moulded).
Examples of Thermoplastics
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
Polycarbonate (PC)
Polyethylene (PE)
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polystyrene (PS)
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)
Examples of Thermosets
Epoxide (EP)
Phenol-formaldehyde (PF)
Polyurethane (PUR)
Unsaturated polyester rens (UP)
Read more about the vario types of plastics.