Preparing Ingredients

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is created from a combination of vinyl and plastic. Experiments to create a vinyl chloride polymer were first done in the mid-1830s, but the solid product created in the lab was simply an oddity, without any apparent use at that time. Additional experimentation in the 1880s reproduced a solid that withstood high heat exposure, but it was ignored in commercial applications due to the inflexibility of the product. Not until the 1920s did scientists attempt to use co-polymers of vinyl chloride. These were easier to produce and created an extremely durable substance. The first experimental pipes made from a co-polymer of polyvinyl chloride were first produced in 1932. Three years later, commercial production began. The first commercial pipes were used in applications to transport water, sewage and waste water, and for the movement of chemicals. The first step in manufacturing PVC pipes is to prepare the ingredients. PVC is created in a chemical process that bonds the vinyl and chloride. The process involves the polymerization of monomer vinyl chloride (VCM). Most manufacturers use suspended polymerization that involves use of a polymerization reactor to mix chemicals and a polymerization initiator. The resulting PVC resin is suspended in water and then removed for degassing and water removal, which is accomplished by use of a centrifuge. The product is then dried and turned into a granulated dust for transportation to the manufacturing plant, where it will be heated to the melting point. Early manufacturing melted the dry powder as a sheet on a roll mill. Once this was done it was molded into a solid product that was ready to be rolled.

Additives
Early PVC production created a rigid and stiff product. As a result of experimentation with other polymers and oil products during the 1950s and the subsequent decades, the PVC product improved dramatically. While formulas for PVC are patented by individual companies, most modern PVC ingredients include various types of stabilizers and lubricants to facilitate processing. Colors are also added during the manufacturing process to indicate the appropriate use of the piping. Dark grey pipe is used for industrial pressure applications, white and blue pipes indicate cold water uses, and green is used for sewer applications.

Extrusion
While rolled PVC was produced beginning in the 1930s, no extrusion process to form PVC pipe was perfected until the 1950s and 1960s. Modifications to such processes are still underway, but today there are two predominant types of PVC pipe--cellular core and solid wall. Three separate layers are extruded to create the cellular core pipe, with hard outer layer walls sandwiching a cellular core center. All three layers are immediately incorporated into one pipe during the manufacturing process. Solid wall PVC pipes are formed in a single manufacturing step. PVC pipe is extruded to meet industry-standard 10 and 20 foot lengths. Pipes are tested for compliance with industry and government standards for durability and the ability to withstand pressure.
How is it Made? PVC pipes are created by starting with a molten mixture of the material and shaping them around a cast. The casts are made to be the exact width of the pipe. The mixture is poured into a cast and surrounded by an outer shell. The complete set is then placed into an oven to be cooked. Once the pipe has solidified, it is cooled and moved into finishing. Sections of the pipe are then cut based on common sizes and needs. The sections are then coated in a chlorine solution to prevent harmful bacteria from growing during shipping and use. Once the coating is dried, the ends of each section are finished. If the pipe is a smooth connection, the top of the pipe is sanded down to ensure a perfectly flat surface. For fitted pipes, a machine engraves a series of grooves into the pipe. As the grooves are cut, high-pressured water is sprayed on the pipe to remove excess PVC fragments. After the grooves are added, the ends are smooth and the sections are sent into testing. Quality Control Because PVC pipes are used in many housing and commercial construction applications, it is important that each pipe is tested to ensure quality. To do so, the pipes are tested for their seal, connection (on grooved sections), and strength. The seal tests are conducted by adding a special cement to the pipe and allowing it to dry. Once this is complete, a series of liquids are passed through the pipe at high pressure. If no leaks occur, the cement is removed and the section is cleaned. For fitted pipes, a similar process takes place without the cement. The final test of the pipes is to ensure their strength. This is completed by using several presses that push weight down on the pipe. If the section does not break or show stress points, it is sent for packaging and shipping. If a section fails at any point in the process, it is sent back to be melted down and re-constructed.

How is PVC used?

PVC is one of the most used plastic materials in the world. At global level, demand for PVC exceeds 35 million tonnes per annum and it is in constant growth (+5% on global average), with higher growth rates in the developing countries. In Europe (EU-27), the production of PVC products including exports totals about 8 million tonnes per year. European PVC resin consumption totals some 6.5 million tonnes per year, or 15% of all plastics use in Europe, with an average growth of 2-3% per year.

2011 PVC sales in the EU27, Norway and Switzerland,

PVC is a more economic material PVC products make life safer, more comfortable and more pleasurable. And, because PVC has an excellent ratio of economic cost to performance, it allows people of all income levels access to these important benefits. The diversity of PVC applications challenges the imagination. In everyday life, they are all around us, from construction profiles to medical devices, from roofing membranes to credit cards, from childrens toys to pipes for water and gas. Few other materials are as versatile or able to fulfil such demanding specifications. In this way, PVC facilitates creativity and innovation, making new possibilities. PVC underpins safety Wire and cables sheathed with PVC prevent potentially fatal electrical accidents. In hospitals around the world PVC medical tubing which does not break or kink delivers fluids and medicines to the sick. Car components which use very strong PVC can reduce the risk of any injuries being caused in case of an accident. Most PVC products are long lasting up to and over 60 years. These applications are reliable throughout their service lives and cut down vastly on maintenance or repair. Modern cars, for example, last many years longer simply because PVC protects the underside from water and corrosion. PVC enhances our lives Functional performance is by no means the whole story. PVC has a distinguished role in beauty and aesthetics. In fashion, furniture and all types of indoor and outdoor accessories, PVC opens up functional and design opportunities that are both visually striking and fundamentally practical. In short, people everywhere benefit from this material. Sometimes invisible but always reliable, PVC products make the difference when it counts.

Discovery and production

PVC was accidentally discovered at least twice in the 19th century, first in 1835 by French chemist Henri Victor Regnault and then in 1872 by German chemist Eugen Baumann. On both occasions the polymer appeared as a white solid inside flasks of vinyl chloride that had been left exposed to sunlight. In the early 20th century the Russian chemist Ivan Ostromislensky and Fritz Klatte of the German chemical company Griesheim-Elektron both attempted to use PVC in commercial products, but difficulties in processing the rigid, sometimes brittle polymer blocked their efforts. Waldo Semon and the B.F. GoodrichCompany developed a method in 1926 to plasticize PVC by blending it with various additives. The result was a more flexible and more easily processed material that soon achieved widespread commercial use. Polyvinyl chloride is produced by polymerization of the monomer vinyl chloride (VCM), as shown.
[6]

About 80% of production involves suspension polymerization. Emulsion polymerizationaccounts for about 12% and bulk polymerization accounts for 8%. Suspension polymerizations affords particles with average diameters of 100 180 m, whereas emulsion polymerization gives much smaller particles of average size around 0.2 m. VCM and water are introduced into the reactor and a polymerization initiator, along with other additives. The reaction vessel is pressure tight to contain the VCM. The contents of the reaction vessel are continually mixed to maintain the suspension and ensure a uniform particle size of the PVC resin. The reaction is exothermic, and thus requires cooling. As the volume is reduced during the reaction (PVC is denser than VCM), water is continually added to the mixture to [4] maintain the suspension. The polymerization of VCM is started by compounds called initiators that are mixed into the droplets. These compounds break down to start the radical chain reaction. Typical initiators include dioctanoyl peroxide and dicetyl peroxydicarbonate, both of which have fragile O-O bonds. Some initiators start the reaction rapidly but decay quickly and other initiators have the opposite effect. A combination of two different initiators is often used to give a uniform rate of polymerization. After the polymer has grown by about 10x, the short polymer precipitates inside the droplet of VCM, and polymerization continues with the precipitated, solvent-swollen particles. The weight average molecular weights of commercial polymers range from 100,000 to 200,000 and the number average molecular weights range from 45,000 to 64,000. Once the reaction has run its course, the resulting PVC slurry is degassed and stripped to remove excess VCM, which is recycled. The polymer is then passed through a centrifuge to remove water. The slurry is further dried in a hot air bed, and the resulting powder sieved before storage or pelletization. Normally, the resulting PVC has a VCM content of less than 1 part per million. Other production processes, such as micro-suspension polymerization and emulsion polymerization, produce PVC with smaller particle sizes (10 m vs. 120150 m for suspension PVC) with slightly different properties and with somewhat different sets of applications.

Microstructure
The polymers are linear and are strong. The monomers are mainly arranged head-to-tail, meaning that there are chlorides on alternating carbon centres. PVC has mainly an atactic stereochemistry, which means that the relative stereochemistry of the chloride centres are random. Some degree of syndiotacticity of the chain gives a few percent crystallinity that is influential on the properties of the material. About 57% of the mass of PVC is chlorine. The presence of chloride groups gives the polymer very different properties from the structurally related [7] material polyethylene.

Mechanical properties
PVC has high hardness and mechanical properties. The mechanical properties enhance with the molecular weight increasing, but decrease with the temperature increasing. The mechanical properties of rigid PVC (uPVC) is very good, the elastic modulus can reach to 1500-3,000 MPa. The soft PVC (Flexible PVC) elastic is 1.5-15 MPa. However, elongation at break is up to 200% -450%. PVC friction is ordinary, the static friction factor is 0.4-0.5, the ] dynamic friction factor is 0.23.

Thermal properties
The heat stability of PVC is very poor, when the temperature reaches 140 C PVC starts to decompose. Its melting temperature is 160 C. The linear expansion coefficient of the PVC is small and has flame retardancy, the oxidation index is up to 45 or more. Therefore, the addition of a heat stabilizer during the process is necessary in order to ensure the product's properties.

Electrical properties
PVC is a polymer with good insulation properties but because of its higher polar nature the electrical insulating property is inferior to non polar polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene. As the dielectric constant, dielectric loss tangent value and volume resistivity are high, the corona resistance is not very good, it is generally suitable for medium or low voltage and low frequency insulation materials.

Applications
PVC's relatively low cost, biological and chemical resistance and workability have resulted in it being used for a wide variety of applications. It is used for sewerage pipes and other pipe applications where cost or vulnerability to corrosion limit the use of metal. With the addition of impact modifiers and stabilizers, it has become a popular material for window and door frames. By adding plasticizers, it can become flexible enough to be used in cabling applications as a wire insulator. It has been used in many other applications. PVC demand is likely to increase at an [18] average annual rate of 3.9% over the next years.

Pipes
Roughly half of the world's polyvinyl chloride resin manufactured annually is used for producing pipes for municipal [19] and industrial applications. In the water distribution market it accounts for 66% of the market in the US, and in [20] sanitary sewer pipe applications, it accounts for 75%. Its light weight, low cost, and low maintenance make it attractive. However, it must be carefully installed and bedded to ensure longitudinal cracking and overbelling does not occur. Additionally, PVC pipes can be fused together using various solvent cements, or heat-fused (butt-fusion process, similar to joining HDPE pipe), creating permanent joints that are virtually impervious to leakage. In February, 2007 the California Building Standards Code was updated to approve the use of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) pipe for use in residential water supply piping systems. CPVC has been a nationally accepted material in the US since 1982; California, however, has permitted only limited use since 2001. The Department of Housing and Community Development prepared and certified anenvironmental impact statement resulting in a recommendation that the Commission adopt and approve the use of CPVC. The Commission's vote was unanimous and CPVC has been placed in the 2007 California Plumbing Code. In the United States and Canada, PVC pipes account for the largest majority of pipe materials used in buried [21] municipal applications fordrinking water distribution and wastewater mains. Buried PVC pipes in both water and sanitary sewer applications that are 4 inches (100 mm) in diameter and larger are typically joined by means of a gasket-sealed joint. The most common type of gasket utilized in North America is a metal reinforced elastomer, [22] commonly referred to as a Rieber sealing system.

Electric cables
PVC is commonly used as the insulation on electrical cables; PVC used for this purpose needs to be plasticized. In a fire, PVC-coated wires can form hydrogen chloride fumes; the chlorine serves to scavenge free radicals and is the source of the material's fire retardance. While HCl fumes can also pose a health hazard in their own right, HCl dissolves in moisture and breaks down onto surfaces, particularly in areas where the air is cool enough to breathe, and is not available for inhalation. Frequently in applications where smoke is a major hazard (notably in tunnels and

communal areas) PVC-free cable insulation is preferred, such as low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) insulation. Any metal parts must not be mixed together during the raw material stage, as it may lead to EMI.

Clothing and furniture

PVC has become widely used in clothing, to either create a leather-like material or at times simply for the effect of PVC. PVC clothing is common in Goth, Punk, clothing fetish and alternative fashions. PVC is cheaper than rubber, leather, and latex which it is therefore used to simulate. PVC fabric has a sheen to it and is waterproof so is used in coats, skiing equipment, shoes,jackets, aprons, and bags.

Healthcare
The two main application areas for single use medically approved PVC compounds are flexible containers and tubing: containers used for blood and blood components for urine or for ostomy products and tubing used for blood taking and blood giving sets, catheters, heart-lung bypass sets, haemodialysis set etc. In Europe the consumption of PVC for medical devices is approximately 85.000 tons every year. Almost one third of plastic based medical devices are made from PVC. The reasons for using flexible PVC in these applications for over 50 years are numerous and based on cost effectiveness linked to transparency, light weight, softness, tear strength, kink resistance, suitability for sterilization and biocompatibility.

Plasticisers
DEHP (Di-2ethylhexylphthalate) has been medically approved for many years for use in such medical devices; the PVC-DEHP combination proving to be very suitable for making blood bags because DEHP stabilises red blood cells, minimising haemolysis (red blood cell rupture). However, DEHP is coming under increasing pressure in Europe. The assessment of potential risks related to phthalates, and in particular the use of DEHP in PVC medical devices, was subject to scientific and policy review by the European Union authorities, and on 21 March 2010, a specific labelling requirement was introduced across the EU for all devices containing phthalates that are classified as CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction).The label aims to enable healthcare professionals to use this equipment safely, and, where needed, take appropriate precautionary measures for patients at risk of over-exposure. DEHP alternatives, which are gradually replacing it, are Adipates, Butyryltrihexylcitrate (BTHC), Cyclohexane-1,2dicarboxylic acid, diisononylester (DINCH), Di(2-ethylhexyl)terephthalate, polymerics and trimellitic acid, 2ethylhexylester (TOTM).