Combustion characteristics of polymethyl methacrylate waste under different thicknesses for energy utilization

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), as a typical thermoplastic, has been widely used in numerous domains. However, large quantities of PMMA waste are generated due to the increasing demand. Combustion is one of the effective thermal-chemical methods to deal with solid waste and convert it into energy, so understanding the combustion characteristics of PMMA is essential. Furthermore, the thickness of a solid has significant effects on its combustion characteristics. Thus, combustion characteristics of PMMA with different thicknesses were studied by cone calorimeter experiments. The main combustion parameters were analyzed, such as combustion behavior, heat release, smoke production, etc. Results showed that the thermal thickness decreased as external heat flux increased. There was an excellent linear relationship between the peak values of three thicknesses and external heat flux. The ignition temperature increased, and the vaporization heat was 1.88 kJ/g. The thickness affected the effective combustion heat. Moreover, the positive relationship between smoke production rate peaks and heat release rate peaks indicated that PMMA was greatly flammable. The amount of CO2 released was almost 100 times that of CO.