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Modeling of glycolysis of flexible polyurethane foam wastes by artificial neural network methodology
Author(s) -
Hekmatjoo Niusha,
Ahmadi Zahed,
Afshar Taromi Faramarz,
Rezaee Babak,
Hemmati Farkhondeh,
Saeb Mohammad Reza
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.4873
Subject(s) - polyol , polyurethane , isocyanate , hydroxyl value , materials science , process (computing) , solvent , chemical engineering , process engineering , artificial neural network , work (physics) , composite material , organic chemistry , chemistry , computer science , mechanical engineering , engineering , artificial intelligence , operating system
The glycolysis process as a useful approach to recycling flexible polyurethane foam wastes is modeled in this work. To obtain high quality recycled polyol, the effects of influential processing and material parameters, i.e. process time, process temperature, catalyst‐to‐solvent (Cat/Sol) and solvent‐to‐foam (Sol/Foam) ratios, on the efficiency of the glycolysis reaction were investigated individually and simultaneously. For the continuous prediction of process behavior and interactive effects of parameters, an artificial neural network ( ANN ) model as an efficient statistical‐mathematical method has been developed. The results of modeling for the criteria that determine the glycolysis process efficiency including the hydroxyl value of the recycled polyol and isocyanate functional group conversion prove that the adopted ANN model successfully anticipates the recycling process responses over the whole range of experimental conditions. The Cat/Sol ratio showed the strongest influence on the quality of the recycled polyol among the studied parameters, where the minimum hydroxyl value was obtained at a medium amount of the assigned ratio. For the consumed polyurethane foam, a higher value of this ratio led to an increase in the hydroxyl value and isocyanate conversion. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry