Annual production of polybutadine is about 2.1 million tons in the year 2000. 70% of PBd goes into tire manufacture. Over 2 billion waste tires are estimated to be stockpiled in landfills in this country, United States. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has collected data in 2011 about waste tire recycling. Piles of tires, leads to collection of water and to pandemic due to West Nile virus.  Tire fires ruins happiness of parties.  The totoal energy required to make 1-3 butadiene monomer is 60,000 BTU per pound. The fuel energy value of tire is ~ 15,000 BTY per pound. Reclamation of monomer is more valuable compared with the use of waste tires as fuel. 2013 would be the centennial of the award of the nobel prize to K. Kamerlingh Onnes (liquid helium, virial equation of state, properties of matter at low temperatures). A careful study of PBd-butadiene reversible polymerization equilibrium at low pressures is simulated on desktop computer. What pressures and temperatures does PBd exist as vapor, gas or super critical state ? What pressures does PBd depolymerize to butadiene monomer ? Which would happen first: (i) vaporization of PBd or depolymerization at different pressures. These issues are discussed and 4 different EOS are used: (i) Tait Equation; (ii_ FLory Orwoll and Vrij theory; (iii) Prigogine Square-Well cel lmodel and; (iv) lattice fluid theory of Sanchez and Lacombe. Clapeyron equation for reversible polymerization is derived. Estimates of ceiling temperatuers of PBd at low pressures are made.

On reclamation of rubber being more valuable compared with incineration to tired old problem

247th National Meeting (2014)

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