Estudo de viabilidade da reciclagem de poliuretano para posterior aplicação na indústria de refrigeradores e freezers

Abstract

The segment of the home appliance industry which includes refrigerators and freezers represents an important portion of the national market, presenting a unique importance in the economy. The present work seeks to study a possibility of reducing its production costs, as well as to propose a sustainable way, from the recycling of the material that fills the cabinet and the doors of the products, the polyurethane. It basically consists of three reagents: polyol, isocyanate, and an expansion gas. The principle of the process consists of recycling the polyol using ethylene glycol as a solvent, to later use this recycled polyol as raw material to produce polyurethane. The process was carried out experimentally and, after completion, four tests were carried out to measure the properties of the recycled material and correlate them with the pure material. The analyzes indicated, in a preliminary way, that the material could not be used for the manufacture of refrigerators and freezers under current conditions, as it does not satisfy the values present in the company's current specification. However, for such a conclusion to be established, more tests would be necessary under different conditions, which could not be addressed in this study due to lack of time. Finally, the cost analysis pointed out that, economically, the process is viable.