TY - JOUR A1 - Erdmann, Maren A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Niebergall, Ute T1 - Physical and chemical effects of biodiesel storage on high-density polyethylene: Evidence of co-oxidation N2 - The physical and chemical effects of diesel and biodiesel fuels on two high-density polyethylene (PE-HD) types were investigated. Both semi-crystalline PE-HD are common thermoplastic materials for container and storage tank applications. Biodiesel, a composition of unsaturated fatty acid esters from renewable resources, was chosen as it is regarded a possible green alternative to fossil fuels. The study aims at identifying significant differences between biodiesel and conventional diesel fuels based on the differences in the chemical nature of the two. The physical effects of the fuels on the polymer at first comprises the sorption behavior, i.e. kinetics and final equilibrium concentration. Not only are both fuels absorbed by the amorphous phase of the semi-crystalline PE-HD, they also induce a plasticization effect that modifies the molecular mobility and therefore also the characteristic yielding properties, manifest in the obtained stress-strain curves. The chemical effects related to degradation phenomena is investigated by a long-term storage scenario using partially immersed tensile test specimens in diesel and biodiesel. We were able to confirm the proposed co-oxidation mechanism by Richaud et al. for polyethylene-unsaturated penetrant systems on a larger scale based on practical tensile tests. One of the investigated polyethylene grades subjected to tensile drawing showed a significant loss of plastic deformation and the onset of premature failure after 150 days of storage in biodiesel. Further biodiesel storage showed a systematically reduced elongation at break before necking. None of these effects were observed in diesel. Oxidation of fuels and polymer after progressing storage times were analyzed by the evolution of carbonyl species in FT-IR/ATR spectroscopy. KW - Biodiesel KW - Degradation KW - Long-term storage KW - Sorption KW - Diesel PY - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2019.01.018 SN - 0141-3910 VL - 161 IS - 1 SP - 139 EP - 149 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-47268 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Erdmann, Maren A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Niebergall, Ute T1 - PE-HD as a polymeric fuel storage tank material: Photooxidation, fuel sorption and long-term storage N2 - High-density polyethylene (PE-HD) is a commodity thermoplastic polymer which is typically used for packing of dangerous goods. Its good resistance against photooxidation, fuels, chemicals and other environmental factors in addition to low production costs makes PE-HD attractive for fuel storage applications. Typical engine fuels stored in polymer tanks are petrol, diesel and biodiesel that receives increasing attention as proper alternative to fossil fuels. One of the major problems with biodiesel is its susceptibility to oxidize due to its chemical composition of unsaturated fatty acids which also can cause polymer degradation. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of different environmental factors, UV radiation and commonly stored fuels, on the mechanical, physical and chemical properties of two types of PE-HD polymers (stabilized and non-stabilized). The influence on the mechanical properties was tested by Charpy and tensile tests, chemical and physical properties were evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and by dynamical mechanical analysis (DMA) tests. Samples were characterized after varying exposure time of UV radiation and after fully and partially immersion in biodiesel. In addition, similar experiments were conducted using diesel for comparison. T2 - MoDeSt2018 CY - Tokio, Japan DA - 02.09.2018 KW - PE-HD KW - Biodiesel KW - UV-irradiation KW - Long-term storage KW - Diesel PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45894 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -