Objectives:

To know and understand what is poly vinyl chloride.

To know the safety materials to be used.

INTRODUCTION TO POLYVINYL CHLORIDE

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was first manufactured in Germany

in 1931 as a robust and lightweight new plastic. This breakthrough material was
brought about to substitute for metals, glass, wood, natural fibers, papers and
fabrics. Over 30 million tons of PVC is used around the globe today, both in
industrialized and developing countries, due to its cost efficiency, durability, selfextinguishing properties, processability, and resources saving features. Owing to its
safe, healthy, convenient and aesthetical advantages, PVC products support daily
life in a wide variety of fields including urban infrastructures, electronic products,
and consumer goods. For example, PVC can be found in public lifelines such as
water supply, sewage pipes, or power lines. It is also used in building materials such
as sidings, furniture, spouts, window profiles, flooring, decking boards, and roofing
sheets. Agricultural and industrial applications include green house sheets,
semiconductor cleansing facilities, exhaust ducts, and parts for automobile and
home electrical appliances. Consumer products include food wraps, synthetic
leather and stationery. As you can see, PVC, or polyvinyl chloride/vinyl chloride
resin, is a raw material used in a vast range of applications. General information on
PVC is provided here in Chapter 1, followed by introductions on four aspects of PVC;
production, characteristics, s, safety and applications.

Materials
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Tensile strength

Notched Impact Strength

2.60 N/mm
2.0 - 45 Kj/m
80 x 10-6

Thermal Coefficient of expansion

Max Cont Use Temp

60 oC

Density

1.38 g/cm3

RESISTANCE TO CHEMICALS
Dilute Acid

Very good

Dilute Alkalis

Very good

Oils and greases

Good (variable)

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Very good

Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Poor

Halogenated Hydrocarbons

Moderate
(variable)

Alcohols

Good (variable)

Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing plastics often creates large quantities of toxic chemical pollutants
such as dioxin, hydrochloric acid, and vinyl chloride.
This poses a severe health risks to humans during the PVC life cycle. These toxins can
produce sever illness like cancer, diabetes, neurological damage, reproductive and birth
defects.
Dioxin is a persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), this are chemical substances that
persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food chain, and pose a risk of
causing adverse effects to human health and the environment.

The manufacturing process:

The PVC production process consists of 5 steps:

The extraction of salt and hydrocarbon resources

The production of ethylene and chlorine from these
resources
The combination of chlorine and ethylene to make the vinyl chloride
monomer (VCM)
The polymerisation of VCM to make poly-vinyl-chloride (PVC)
The blending of PVC polymer with other materials to produce different
formulations providing a wide range of physical properties.

Products and bi-products of PVC manufacture include Chlorine and Caustic

Soda, two of perhaps the most important manufacturing "ingredients" not
only for PVC manufacture, but many other applications. Chlorine is used in
the manufacture of life-saving medication, indeed 85% of all
pharmaceuticals. Caustic Soda too has many key, everyday applications,
including the following applications: pulp and paper manufacture, soap and
surfactant manufacture, detergents and cleaners, aluminia extraction,
textiles and in the food industry.
PVC is used in a wide variety of applications, including windows and
doors, cladding and fascia boards, pipes, packaging (cling film, for instance),
healthcare (blood bags, hospital flooring), automotive (various), flooring
applications and an every day product, which is often taken for granted credit cards.
Around 34 million tons of PVC was produced worldwide in 2006, with approx.
6 million tonnes being used within Western Europe, predominantly used for
rigid applications such as windows, doors and pipes.
General
The essential raw materials for PVC are derived from salt and oil. The
electrolysis of salt water produces chlorine, which is combined with ethylene
(obtained from oil) to form vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). Molecules of VCM
are polymerised to form PVC resin, to which appropriate additives are
incorporated to make a customised PVC compound .

PVC's major benefit is its compatibility with many different kinds of additives,
making it a highly versatile polymer. PVC can be plasticised to make it
flexible for use in flooring and medical products. Rigid PVC, also known as
PVC-U (The U stands for "unplasticised") is used extensively in building
applications
such
as
window
frames.
Its compatibility with additives allows for the possible addition of flame
retardants although PVC is intrinsically fire retardant because of the presence
of
chlorine
in
the
polymer
matrix.
PVC has excellent electrical insulation properties, making it ideal for cabling
applications. Its good impact strength and weatherproof attributes make it
ideal for construction products
Flow Chart of Poly Vinyl Chloride

How is it produced
The basic raw materials for PVC are derived from salt and oil.
Chlorine is manufactured by the electrolysis of sodium chloride, salt.
This is why the first PVC manufacturing plants were located close to natural sources of salt.
The electrolysis of salt water produces chlorine. The chlorine is then combined with ethylene that has
been obtained from oil. The resulting element is ethylene dichloride, which is converted at very high
temperatures to vinyl chloride monomer. These monomer molecules are polymerized forming
polyvinyl chloride resin.
For example rigid PVC like the one which is used in windows frames is normally PVCU
("unplasticized"). On the other hand flexible PVC is achieved by adding plasticizers such as
phthalates.
Furthermore, pure poly-chloroethene is unstable when exposed to visible light or UV. In order to
modify this disadvantage and make it suitable for different applications antioxidants are added. Some
other additives comprise:

Characteristics of Polyvinyl Chloride

These are some of the properties that makes PVC appropriate for several
applications:
- Toughness, strength.
- Ease of blending, ease of processing
- Flame resistant and fire prevention properties
For example PVC is difficult to ignite and in the absence of a powerful external flame will not continue
to burn. This is due to its chlorine compound. This makes it an ideal
construction and cable material.
- It is compatible with other additives that can provide PVC clear or
colored, rigid or flexible, etc..
- Excellent electrical insulation properties. This makes it ideal to be use in cables.
- Impact strength and resistant to bad weather conditions (i.e. it does not corrode and is very
durable), appropriate to be used as a construction material
- Resistance to grease, oil and chemicals
- PVC is chemically stable and does not de-polymerize
- Density:
1.32-1.42 g/cc

Conclusions

The environmental impacts of any one material cannot be judged in isolation

since the use of alternatives will not be without cost, either financially or to
the environment. Materials that compete with PVC are often promoted as a
more natural choice, indeed, natural does not equate to better or more
sustainable'.
Some competing materials claim environmental and sustainability
advantages over PVC this is usually based either on myths about the
environmental impact of PVC or unjustifiably biased opinions about the
competing materials. Key points to note include;

The PVC industry has developed a good knowledge of sustainability.

PVC
has
many
economic,
social
and
environmental
sustainability advantages as compared to competing materials,
however there is still more we can do.
The PVC industry has invested heavily in sustainable development and
the VinylPlus (formerly Vinyl2010) programme is receiving recognition.

We can only emphasise the proven performance and environmental

credentials which continues to support the use of PVC in an extremely wide
range of applications many of which, in the medical and pharmaceutical
fields, and in certain safety critical construction uses, have life-saving
capabilities. The benefits of the material are all around us, are rock solid and
indisputable and they are thoroughly documented and attested by the
application of sound science. The criticisms are, sadly, often lacking in sheer
knowledge, intellectual rigour and honesty and are often politically
motivated.
To summarise;

PVC is a safe material in all phases of its lifecycle

PVC is a socially valuable resource
There are no scientific reasons for PVC to be replaced or phased out

Applications
PVC is such a versatile material, it has many possible applications in the
modern world, including some of the areas listed below:

Construction
PVC has been used extensively in a wide range of

construction products for over half a century.

PVC's strong, lightweight, durable and versatile
characteristics make it ideal for window profiles.
PVC's inherent flame retardant and excellent
electrical insulation properties make it ideal for
cabling applications.
Typical example of PVC construction products
include:

Window and door profiles, conservatories

and atria
Pipes and fittings
Power, data and telecoms wiring and
cables
Cable and services ducting
Internal and external cladding
Roofing and ceiling systems and
membranes
Rainwater, soil and waste systems
Flooring
Wallcoverings

Automotive
PVC brings both high performance qualities and
important cost benefits to the automotive
industry. Independent research by Mavel
Consultants has shown that the typical cost of
using alternative materials is in a range 20-100%
higher per component. Typical examples of PVC
automotive components include:

Instrument panels and associated

mouldings
Interior Door Panels and Pockets
Sun Visors
Seat Coverings
Mud Flaps

Underbody Coating
Auto Harness Wiring

PVC and Sustainability

There are many definitions of Sustainability and Sustainable Development,
but it can best be defined by the three main pillars of sustainability; social,
economic and environmental.
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs."
The UK PVC Industry:

Economic
The UK PVC industry has enduring pre-war origins and currently
employs approx. 60,000 people across the supply chain, which is
spread between large multinationals and SME's. There is an even
distribution of these companies, though raw material producers tend to
be based in the North-West of England, due to the abundance of
natural resources. Consequently, the majority of the PVC industry
supply chain is based in the UK, contributing to the growth of the UK
economy at large.

Social
Companies offer rewarding, long-term employment opportunities
(including training opportunities), with safe working environments and
whose products contribute to good quality homes, through energy
efficient windows to the safe transportation of drinking water.
Generally, PVC products are light-weight to install - thus a potential for
fewer accidents, but far from just providing the windows and pipes for
your property, cabling, ducting, roofline products are usually PVC. Of
course, let's not forget that when you pay for these items, the humble
credit card is often made from PVC!

Environmental In terms of environmental sustainability there are

common elements in all studies (on PVC and other materials)
consistent with reducing human impact on eco-systems:
With world population 6.5 Billion and growing we need to conserve
scarce resources and we should minimise human land-usage in order
to protect biodiversity by giving priority to essential uses (e.g. food

crops). To achieve this, we need to minimise or eliminate waste by

efficient use of materials and increase recycling rates - something that
the PVC industry within Europe is committed to.
Industry is engaged in a voluntary sustainable development
programme that goes beyond legal requirements,
through VinylPlus (formerly Vinyl2010).

Commitments to Sustainability
Since the late 90s, the European PVC Industry has
been working hard to embrace its responsibility to
the challenge of sustainable development. This
was particularly evident in the achievements
of Vinyl2010, the EU PVC Industry's ten-year
Voluntary Committment to Sustainable
Development, which made great progress in
waste management, recycling and the responsible
use of additives.
Ambitious, new targets for sustainable
development were launched on 22 June 2011 as
part of the VinylPlus programme which will build
on the success of Vinyl 2010.

Recycling
Recovinyl is the European-wide organisation,
which has been set up to to facilitate the
increased recycling of post-consumer PVC in the
EU-25. The UK alone achieved over 49,000 tonnes
post-consumer PVC recycled in 2010, one of the
leading lights in Europ

PVC and Additives

Before PVC can be made into products, it has to be combined with a range of
special additives. These additives can influence or determine a number of
the products properties, namely; its mechanical properties, weather fastness,
its colour and clarity and indeed whether it is to be used in a flexible
application. This process is called compounding.

The functional additives used in all PVC materials include heat

stabilisers, lubricants, and in the case of flexible PVC, plasticisers.Optional
additives, include a range of substances from processing aids, impact
modifiers, thermal modifiers, UV stabilisers, flame retardants, mineral fillers,
pigments, to biocides, and blowing agents for specific applications. The
actual PVC polymer content in some flooring applications can be as low as
25% by mass, the remainder accounted for by additives.

Functional Additives

Heat stabilisers
Heat stabilisers are necessary in all PVC formulations to prevent the
decomposition of the PVC by heat and shear during processing. They
can also enhance the PVC's resistance to daylight, and to weathering
and heat ageing. In addition heat stabilisers have an important
influence on the physical properties of the PVC and the cost of the
formulation. The choice of heat stabiliser depends on a number of
factors including the technical requirements of the PVC product,
regulatory approval requirements and cost.

Lubricants
These are used to reduce friction during processing. External lubricants
can reduce friction between the PVC and the processing equipment,
whereas internal lubricants work on the PVC granules.

A plasticiser is a substance which when added to a material, usually a

plastic, makes it flexible, resilient and easier to handle. Early examples
of plasticisers include water to soften clay and oils to plasticise pitch
for waterproofing ancient boats.
The selection of plasticisers depends on the final properties required by
the final product, and indeed whether the product is for a flooring
application or a medical application. There are more than 300 different
types of plasticisers of which about 50-100 are in commercial use. For
more information on plasticisers. The most commonly used plasticisers
are phthalates which can be divided into two distinct groups with very
different applications and classifications;
Low Phthalates: Low molecular weight (LMW) phthalates contain eight
or less carbon atoms in their chemical backbone. These include, DEHP,
DBP, DIBP and BBP. The use of these phthalates in Europe is limited to
certain specialised applications.
High Phthalates: High molecular weight (HMW) phthalates are those
with 7 - 13 carbon atoms in their chemical backbone. These include:
DINP, DIDP, DPHP, DIUP and DTDP. HMW phthalates are safely used in
many everyday including cables and flooring.
Speciality plasticisers, such as adipates, citrates, benzoates and
trimeliltates are used where special physical properties are required
such as the ability to withstand very low temperatures or where
increased flexibility is important.
Many of the PVC products we use everyday but tend to take for
granted contain phthalate plasticisers. They include everything from
lifesaving medical devices such as medical tubing and blood bags, to
footwear, electrical cables, packaging, stationery, and toys. In addition,
phthalates are used in other non-PVC applications such as paints,
rubber products, adhesives and some cosmetics.