New Binding Materials Based on Recycling Polystyrene Foam for Foundry

Abstract

Nowadays, polystyrene foam materials are widely used in the world practice as technical and household containers, as well as food containers. After use, styrofoam is not recyclable, since it does not interact with water, and is not biodegradable. It cannot be burned like scrap, firewood, etc. due to the fact that very harmful gases are released in large volumes during the destruction of polystyrene. The possibility of using waste polystyrene foam for new connections in the foundry were considered. Studies of molding and core mixtures with new binders were carried out. The purpose of the work is to find new binding materials based on polystyrene for recycling purposes in the foundry. This will improve and develop new molding processes more efficiently and will reduce this waste, which will improve environmental conditions. This solves an important problem of man-made waste processing and ensuring high quality foundry binders. To realize this goal, we compared the characteristics of known organic and inorganic solvents of polystyrene and determined the optimal ones in terms of their minimal toxicity and high polystyrene dissolution rate, and explored the physical and technological characteristics of polystyrene solutions in selected solvents, as well as molding and core mixtures on their basis.