Temperature, pressure, and catalysts are used to open up the double bond of the ethylene monomer and many monomers bond together to create a polymer.
Polyvinyl Chloride
Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is raw material
Main way to make it is called suspension polymerisation
VCM gas, water, and suspending agents are fed into polymerisation unit. Agitating at high speed, small droplets of VCM liquid are formed.
A catalyst is added to the polymerisation unit. Temperature at 40-60 degrees celsius and set pressure, vinyl chloride monomers turn into polyvinyl chloride. It looks like particles suspended in water.
These particles suspended in water are stripped of VCM that didn’t react (which is recycled) and most of the water is removed by centrifugation (spinning a special piece of machinery to separate a heterogeneous mixture). Solid is dried (rest of water evaporated).
Produces PVC in a white powder form
Urea Formaldehyde
Urea is a solid crystal obtained from reacting carbon dioxide with ammonia, and formaldehyde is a reactive gas obtained from oxidation of methane
Used as adhesive for bonding plywood or particleboard
Condensation polymerization is used to bond urea and formaldehyde and create the copolymer urea formaldehyde