Technologia i parametry techniczne pracy instalacji przemysłowej do produkcji plastyfikatora TDAE
Authors: Ptak Stefan 
Published: October 2021

Crude oil is and will continue to be in the near future the basic natural economic resource in the world. The use of products derived from crude oil is the driving force of the economy in every country. Many products, semi-finished products, and raw materials are obtained from the processing of crude oil and used in many industries, including the petrochemical industry. Petroleum plasticisers play an important role in this area of the country’s economy as a softening additive in the vulcanisation of rubbers, especially synthetic styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), and as a component of rubber compounds in their production and vulcanisation. The development of petroleum plasticisers for the rubber industry is determined by many documents and laws, as well as a number of requirements resulting from the nature of the production and operating conditions of rubber products. In particular, they must: • have the chemical composition required for a given combination and have appropriate physicochemical properties, • exhibit compatibility with the selected rubber, • demonstrate low volatility during the processes of rubber production, rubber compound production, and vulcanisation, and • not show any toxic effects. Petroleum plasticisers used in rubber compositions (SBR) are also called filler oils, which consist of hydrocarbon particles containing from 25 to 35 carbon atoms and are divided into aromatic, naphthenic, and paraffinic types depending on the proportion of carbons in the structures the aromatic, naphthenic and paraffin. An important role in the experimental research of this dissertation is played by highly aromatic plasticisers, a by-product of refining solvents of vacuum distillates from crude oil in the production of base oils, which have gained a lot of significance in the production of car tyres. DAE highly aromatic plasticisers have the highest content of aromatic hydrocarbons and the associated high content of polycyclic aromatic compounds and benzo[a]pyrene. The European Union’s introduction of EU Directive 76/769/EEC and Regulation 1907/2006 was aimed at reducing the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in tyres, which led to the oil industry’s production of petroleum plastics with low PAH content using various production processes to meet the needs of the global tyre industry. After DAE plasticisers were banned due to their mutagenic and carcinogenic activity, the global plasticisers market in 2010 created the REACH system in the European Union. Caused the adoption by the European Parliament and the Council on December 18, 2006, Regulation No. 1907/2006 in on registration, evaluation, authorization and related restrictions on chemicals, introducing provision 27 to Directive 76/769/EEC of the amendment to prohibit the use of highly aromatic extracts exceeding the limit for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content. The experimental part contains the results of research on the development and industrial-scale implementation of TDAE plasticiser production technology that meets the requirements for carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. An important stage of experimental research is the technological industrial trials concerning the TDAE plasticiser tests carried out on the Furfurol installation in the production plant of ORLEN OIL Sp. z.o.o. in Płock, Poland. The main justification of the purpose and theses of the work are the investigations of selective solvent refining of heavy extracts in terms of the production of TDAE aromatic plasticisers meeting the requirements of EU Regulation 1907/2006. As a result of the work, it is possible to introduce into the production cycle, in addition to the base oils, a TDAE plasticiser with the trade name Elasticol, on the oil block of PKN ORLEN S.A. Another important element of the experimental research is the use of a solvent dewaxing process to obtain various TDAE plasticisers. The process of solvent dewaxing with various solvents allowed for the development of production technology of a modified TDAE plasticiser that meets the quality requirements of EU Regulation 1907/2006 with the potential for improving its low-temperature properties. In addition, the author has registered this technology in the Patent Office under the common title, Manufacture of a modified TDAE plasticiser intended for the production of caoutchouc and rubber, especially car tyres. Due to the broad knowledge of the interdisciplinary, extensive scope of the work, its conclusions were grouped into general, detailed, methodological, and perspective.