Lors de la production du PVC en poudre, après l’étape de polymérisation en suspension, on obtient une bouillie constituée d’un mélange de grains macroporeux de taille comprise entre 100 et 200 μm et d’eau. L’étape de centrifugation permet la séparation de la phase liquide exprimable et la production d’un milieu poreux humide appelé « gâteau ». La teneur en eau du gâteau ainsi formé est de 30 % de la masse du produit anhydre. Le séchage du gâteau de filtration se fait dans un séchoir Flash (séchoir pneumatique) couplé à un séchoir à lit fluidisé. Cette opération, très gourmande en énergie et donc très impactante en termes d’émission de Gaz à Effet de Serre (GES), représente 30% du coût de fabrication et 50% des émissions de CO2. Ce travail, réalisé dans le cadre d’une collaboration avec le groupe INEOS ChlorVinyls, est consacrée à l’étude de l’étape de séchage thermique, et à la réalisation d’outils expérimentaux et théoriques permettant d’optimiser le fonctionnement et de réduire la consommation énergétique de cette étape. Dans ce but, l’étude du séchage du PVC est réalisée à l’échelle d’une particule isolée d’une part, et à l’échelle du procédé industriel d’autre part. La détermination expérimentale de la cinétique de séchage est effectuée en immergeant une quantité de produit humide (gâteau de filtration) dans un lit fluidisé de grosses particules inertes et chaudes (billes de verre), et permet d’étudier l’influence de différents paramètres sur la cinétique d’évaporation. Les résultats ont montré que cette cinétique est limitée par les processus d’évaporation à l’intérieur et à la surface des particules. Du point de vue théorique, un modèle dont le principe repose sur les bilans de matière et de chaleur à l’échelle du grain de PVC, couplés aux bilans sur le séchoir à lit fluidisé, a été élaboré. La comparaison des résultats de ce modèle avec les résultats expérimentaux a permis de vérifier la validité de la loi cinétique ainsi établie. Finalement, cette loi a été intégrée dans un modèle simulant le séchoir pneumatique industriel. Les résultats théoriques sont comparés à des mesures réalisées sur un séchoir pneumatique industriel équipé de capteurs de pression, d’humidité et de température. Les résultats de cette étude ont permis de proposer une nouvelle stratégie de régulation du séchoir pneumatique ainsi que des modifications du procédé, ne nécessitant pas d’investissement. L’ensemble de ces propositions a permis de réduire d’environ 30% la consommation énergétique pour un rendement de séchage équivalent. / In a PVC powder production line, the step of suspension polymerization produces a mixture of macroporous particles and water, called “slurry”. The mean particle size varies between 100 and 200 µm. The centrifugation step eliminates most of water content and produces a wet porous medium called “cake”. The water content of the cake is about 30% of the dry product mass. Drying operations take place in a Flash dryer (pneumatic dryer) coupled with a fluidized bed dryer. These operations, which consume a lot of energy and produce greenhouse gas, represent 30% of the production cost and 50% of the CO2 emissions. This work, realized in collaboration with INEOS ChlorVinyls group, is devoted to the study of the thermal drying step and to the realization of experimental and theoretical tools in order to optimize and reduce the energy consumption of this step. The study of the drying step is realized, on the one hand, at the particle scale and, on the other hand, at the industrial dryer scale. The particle scale drying kinetic is obtained by immersing a sample of wet product in a fluidized bed of warm inert particles (glass beads), and enables to study the influence of different parameters on the evaporation kinetic. The results have shown a limitation of this kinetic by the evaporation process both inside the particles and on their outer surface. In a theoretical way, a model based on mass and heat balances at particle scale coupled with fluidized bed balances, has been developed. The kinetic law developed is validated by the comparison between the results of this model and the experimental results. Finally, this law is integrated in a model simulating the industrial pneumatic dryer. The theoretical results are compared to the measurements realized on an industrial pneumatic dryer, equipped with several pressure, humidity and temperature sensors. The results of this study lead to the proposition of a new regulation strategy for the pneumatic dryer and some zero-investment modifications of the process. All these propositions enable an energy consumption reduction of 30%.

No description available.

The thermal stability, fire retardancy and basic mechanical properties, as a function of the mass fractions of the poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) compound ingredients, can be modelled using 2nd order Scheffé polynomials. The empirical models for each response variable can be determined using statistical experimental design. The particular models for each response variable, which are selected for predictive ability using k-fold cross validation, can be interpreted using statistical analysis of the model terms. The statistical analysis of the model terms can reveal the synergistic or antagonistic interactions between ingredients, some of which have not been reported in literature. The interaction terms in the models also mean that the effect of a certain ingredient is dependent on the mass fractions of the other ingredients. Sensitivity analysis can be used to examine the overall effect of a change in a particular formulation on the response variables. The empirical models can be used to minimise the cost of the PVC compound by varying the formulation. The optimum formulation is a function of the costs of the various ingredients and the limits which are placed on the response variables. To analyse the system as a whole, parametric analysis can be used. The number of different parametric analyses which can be done is very large and depends on the specific questions which need to be answered. Parametric analysis can be used to gain insight into the complex behaviour of the system with changing requirements, as a decision making tool in a commercial environment or to determine the completeness of the different measuring techniques used to describe the thermal stability and fire retardancy of the PVC compound. Statistical experimental design allows for the above methods to be used which leads to significant time and labour savings over attempting to reach the same conclusions using the traditional one-factor-at-a-time experiments with changes in the phr of an ingredient. It is recommended that the data generated for this investigation is analysed in more detail using the methods outlined for this investigation. This can be facilitated by making the analysis of the data (and therefore the data itself) more accessible through a usable interface. The data set itself can also be expanded to include new ingredients requiring very few additional experiments. If a PVC compound that contains none of the ingredients that were used in this investigation is of interest a new separate data set needs to be generated. This can be done by following the same procedure used in this investigation. In fact the method that is used in this investigation can be generalised to optimise the proportions of the ingredients of any mixture. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

A key trend in the PVC market is to replace or decrease the amount of phthalate plasticisers used due to increasing health concerns. Therefore, the demand for non-phthalate based plasticisers is growing rapidly. Mineral oils are used in a variety of rubber and polymer applications as plasticisers; however, due to the lower polarity their applicability in PVC compounds is limited. Therefore, these materials are typically used as secondary plasticiser along with a primary for the purpose of improved properties and cost reduction. Some of the non-phthalate based solutions are fast fusing plasticisers, which act like solvents and have too rapid and too high plasticizing effect. This makes the compounding difficult and could cause problems in production. These substances have good compatibility with mineral oils, and using them together in PVC compounds can help the compounding issue by reducing the solvent power and increasing the fusion time to a level where the production parameters are similar to compounding with phthalates.   The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of mineral oils as a secondary plasticiser in a non-phthalate system for PVC. Four different grades of mineral oil and three non-phthalate plasticisers were used in compounding and compression moulding of PVC sample films. Mechanical, physical and chemical testing were done to assess the properties in a comparative study with phthalate plasticized PVC.   Tensile testing and hardness measurements showed that the mineral oils did not contribute with any plasticizing effect for the non-phthalate plasticisers tested in the study. The hardness was instead slightly increased for all the sample films that contained mineral oil. This indicates that the mineral oil either is less efficient than the primary plasticiser or that it affects the primary plasticisers intramolecular shielding between the PVC chains.       The shrinkage test showed that the migration of mineral oil was acceptable, especially the thicker grades of mineral oils had low migration. Colour stability test showed that the thicker mineral oil grades had some problems with discolouration. The discolouration is probably related to content of polyaromatics and oxidation stability.

Bakgrund: Vårdskador är ett allvarligt problem inom svensk hälso- och sjukvård, vilket leder till onödigt lidande hos patient, ökad vårdtider, onödig användning av resurser och ökade kostnader. Vårdrelaterade infektioner står för det flesta fall av vårdskador, varav perifer venkateter (PVK) står för de flesta fall av kärlrelaterad komplikation, tromboflebit. Syfte: Att undersöka hantering av perifera venkatetrar avseende skötsel, dokumentation och förekomst av tromboflebit. Metod: Studien var en kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie. Data inhämtades på medicinavdelningar med hjälp av strukturerade observationer genom bedömningsinstrument PVC-ASSESS, där 80 PVK ingick i studien. Resultat: Endast en PVK var fullständigt märkt med "perifer venkateter", datum, tid och signatur på fixeringsförbandet. Fixeringsförbandet fäste väl vid huden hos hälften av samtliga PVK, likaså hade hälften av samtliga förband blod under insticksstället. Vanligaste PVK storlek som användes var storleken 1.1 millimeter (rosa). Enbart en PVK var överförd mellan patientens samtliga journaler: ambulansjournal, akutjournal och datajournal. PVK som placerades på ambulans och akuten använde större PVK nål jämfört med på avdelning. Av 80 PVK hade 51 PVK tecken på tromboflebit. Palpationssmärta upplevdes av 25 patienter. Högst frekvens av tromboflebit kunde ses i åldersgruppen 61-80 år. Lägst frekvens av tromboflebit fanns när PVK placerades på handryggen, medan högst frekvens fanns när PVK placerades på underarmen och armvecket. Slutsats: För en minskning av tromboflebitfrekvens behöver hantering av PVK avseende skötsel och dokumentation förbättras. Ytterligare studier behövs för kunskap om orsakssamband till tromboflebit. Ett standardiserat bedömningsinstrument till exempel PVC ASSESS behöver enhetligt användas på klinik och tydlig definition av tromboflebit behöver utvecklas.

Die Ermittlung der mechanischen Eigenschaften von PVC-Profilen ist von zentraler Bedeutung in der PVC-Industrie. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit lag darin, eine neue Messmethode zur schnellen Bestimmung der mechanischen Eigenschaften von PVC-Materialien mittels dynamisch-mechanischer Analyse (DMA) zu entwickeln. Bei PVC-Produkten stellt der Geliergrad ein wichtiges Maß zur schnellen Bewertung der mechanischen Eigenschaften dar. Studien haben ergeben, dass die optimalen mechanischen Eigenschaften meist bei Geliergraden zwischen 70 und 80 % (je nach PVC-Rezeptur) erreicht werden. Die Parameter einer Extrusionsanlage werden daher so eingestellt, dass sich für das Profil ein Wert in diesem Bereich ergibt. Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Geliergrad, mechanischen Eigenschaften (u. a. Zugfestigkeit und Schlagzähigkeit), Kristallinität, Oberflächestruktur (mit REM- und AFM-Aufnahmen beobachtet) und mittels DMA ermittelten Kennwerten von PVC-Profilen wurden untersucht. Die dynamisch-mechanische Analyse fand unter Zug (Belastungsart, die sich am besten zur Messung von thermoplastischen Kunststoffen eignet) mit einer Deformation von 5 mm, bei einer Frequenz von 1 Hz und mit einer Heizrate von 5 K/min (zwischen Raumtemperatur und 100 °C) unter Luft statt. Durch DMA-Messungen war es möglich, PVC-Rezepturen, die bei unterschiedlichen Parametern verarbeitet wurden, zu untersuchen, um die optimalen Extrusionsparameter festzulegen, ohne den Geliergrad ermitteln zu sollen. DMA-Untersuchungen sind auch zur Optimierung von Extrusionswerkzeugen geeignet, da die mittels DMA ermittelten Kennwerten an Proben, die an unterschiedlichen Stellen eines Profils entnommen wurden, gemessen werden kann. Dadurch kann ein Werkzeug so optimiert werden, dass an verschiedenen Stellen eines Profils gleichmäßig gute mechanische Eigenschaften vorhanden sind.

No description available.

This thesis aims at providing a new approach for detecting R-waves in the ECG signal and generating the corresponding R-wave impulses with the delay between the original R-waves and the R-wave impulses being lesser than 100 ms. The algorithm was implemented in Matlab and tested with good results against 90 different ECG recordings from the MIT-BIH database. The Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) forms the heart of the algorithm providing a multi-resolution analysis of the ECG signal. The wavelet transform decomposes the ECG signal into frequency scales where the ECG characteristic waveforms are indicated by zero crossings. The adaptive threshold algorithms discussed in this thesis search for valid zero crossings which characterize the R-waves and also remove the Preventricular Contractions (PVC's). The adaptive threshold algorithms allow the decision thresholds to adjust for signal quality changes and eliminate the need for manual adjustments when changing from patient to patient. The delay between the R-waves in the original ECG signal and the R-wave impulses obtained from the algorithm was found to be less than 100 ms.

Poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC) wire and cable insulation has poor thermal stability, causing the plasticizer to separate from the PVC chain and produce an oily residue, lowering the tensile elongation at break and thus increasing brittleness. We have added 4 wt.% of three different types of cross-linking agents and antioxidants, as well as mixtures of both, to improve the thermal stability of the plasticizer and tensile properties of PVC after thermal exposure. We performed tensile tests, tribological tests, profilometry, scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and water absorption determination before and after thermal exposure at 136 ℃ for 1 week. After adding the agents, elongation at break increased by 10 to 20 % while the wear rate and water absorption were lower than for the control sample. Less voids are seen in the SEM images after adding these two kinds of agents. The thermal resistance of the PVC cable insulation is best enhanced by combinations of cross-linking agents and antioxidants.

No description available.