TOPIC PAPER

POLYMER ENGINEERING & RHEOLOGY (PTL 707)

SUBMITTED BY

ABHISHEK KUMAR 2012CHE2771

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DELHI

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RHEOLOGY OF POLYVINYL CHLORIDE Raw Material : Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is made from vinyl chloride monomer (or VCM) through polymerization. It belongs to the group of thermoplastic polymers. At the first stage in PVC production process, ethylene and chlorine are combined to produce an intermediate product called ethylene dichloride; this is then transformed into vinyl chloride, the basic building block of PVC. The PVC produced in this way is in the form of white powder. This is blended with several ingredients to form a wide range of products. Most commonly plastics have carbon and hydrogen as their main component element. PVC differs by containing chlorine (about 57% by wt) along with carbon and hydrogen. It is less dependent than other polymers on crude oil or natural gas, which are nonrenewable and hence can be regarded as a natural resource saving plastic. PVC has inherently fire retarding properties due to its chlorine content, even in the absence of fire retardants. The ignition temperature of PVC is as high as 455 oC. It is highly resistive to oxidation by atmospheric oxygen. PVC being resistant to acid, alkali and almost all inorganic chemicals, is used in exhaustive gas ducts, sheets used in construction, bottles, tubes and hoses. The polar groups in PVC contribute to ease of coloring, printing and adhesion. PVC products do not require pretreatment, which enables a wide variety of designs. Viscometric plot & Rheological data : The viscometric plot for PVC as obtained from the literature is shown below:

Fig 1: Viscosity vs shear rate for a PVC compound starting at different shear rate levels
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Samples A, B and C are the three different types of PVC samples. The complex viscosity data are shown below:

Fig 2: Complex viscosity curve for PVC samples

Fig 3: Strain sweep at 200 oC of PVC sample

Fig 4: Creep property of PVC, PP and PE Rheological model for PVC : PVC follows Power Law model as well as Bird Carreau model. Power law

...Bird Carreau model

CONE & PLATE RHEOMETER

Description :The cone and plate rheometer is the most versatile and highly used for determining the rheological properties of polymers. The common feature of this viscometer is that the fluid is sheared between a flat plate and a cone with low angle. Either of these two can be made to rotate i.e. either plate alone, cone alone or both together. This system produces a flow in which the shear rate is very linearly uniform. The gap angle () is very small (<5o). The shear rate of the fluid depends on the gap angle and the linear speed of the plate.

Fig 5: Schematic diagram of cone and plate viscometer The Brookfield Cone-Plate viscometer is a well know viscometer. The resistance to the rotation of the cone produces a torque that is proportional to the shear stress in the fluid. This reading is easily converted to absolute centipoise units (mPa.s). The stationary plate forms the bottom of a sample cup which can be removed, filled with 0.5 ml to 2.0 ml of sample fluid and remounted without disturbing the calibration. The sample cup is jacketed and has tube fittings for connection to a constant temperature circulating bath.

Advantages : Shear rates as high as 1875 sec-1 can be achieved. The small sample volume required permits rheological evaluations to be made on materials where sample availability is limited, such as biological fluids and thick film coatings that contain precious metals. In some of the viscometers, the temperature of the fluid sample is controlled during tests. This is achieved by circulating preheated or cooled external fluid through the plate of this viscometer. These viscometers can be used with both Newtonian and Non-Newtonian fluids as the shear rate is approximately constant across the gap. Also, bubble formation (if any), can be easily removed. Disadvantages : Apart from the advantages offered by this viscometer, there are several disadvantages too. It is not easy to work with low viscosity polymer solutions and water like viscosity solutions. Also the temperature is not kept beyond 350 oC. As the gap angle is increased, the chances of getting error also increases. There has to be some gap between the cone and plate, they should not touch each other, because in that case additional torque will be generated. Errors : The main sources of error which can affect the measurement are: misalignment of plate, inertia effects and friction bearing. For highly viscous material, inertia effects in the fluid can be neglected. However when the stress is removed there will be a tendency for the plate to continue rotating due to the inertia of the apparatus. Availability and Cost :The main limitation of this viscometer is its high cost. The viscometer is available at an average price of 2600 USD. The higher the price of the instrument, the better is the instrument. It is available with a very few vendors in India like Techno Instruments Company and Amkette Analytics Ltd. Though it can be easily ordered from foreign manufacturers, which will be costly. Comment :There is no viscometer which can be used for complete range of shear rate. The viscometers have to be used in combination with other to get the viscometric data for a particular polymer solution. Capillary rheometer can be used in combination with cone and plate rheometer to get the full range of shear rate.

REFERENCES 1. PVC-Physical properties and How is it made. www.pvc.org 2. Prakash Hatti, Swayajith Sahadevan. Characterising melt viscosity of rigid poly vinyl compounds using a dynamic strain rheometer. GE India Technology Center, Bangalore. 3. Burgess R.H. Manufacturing and processing of PVC. Elsevier, 1986. 4. Purushottam D. G., Arkadii I.L. Modelling and Simulation in polymers. Wiley VCH. 5. Collins Edward E. The rheology of polymers-an overview. Pure & Applied Chem. 1977. 49;581:595. 6. Viswanath DS, Ghosh TK.Viscosity of liquids. Springer, 2007. 7. Instrument engineers handbook. Process measurement and analysis by Bella Liptik. CRC press, 2003. 8. MS Thesis by Batchelor J. A cone and plate viscometer for the measurement of the viscosity and shear recovery of polymer melts. IOP science. 9. Wells/Brookefield cone and plate for small samples. www.brookefieldengineering.com 10. Cone plate viscometer suppliers. www.tradeindia.com