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Why can't we use polyethylene as a fuel?
Asked by: maestro
from SAN FRANCISCO, CA
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Since polyethylene (PE), the polymer that mainly makes up plastic bags, is just a long chain of CH2 and gasoline is mainly made up of hydrocarbons of various chain lengths, then why can't we burn PE as a fuel directly?
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Note the presence of the double bond in ethylene.
Gasoline is mainly made up of hydrocarbons of various chain lengths without the double bond.
You can see what happens if you burn gasoline. Have you heated polyethylene?
A mess.
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Gasoline is mainly made up of hydrocarbons of various chain lengths without the double bond.
You can see what happens if you burn gasoline. Have you heated polyethylene?
A mess.
...
Answer Date: 08:47pm 07/01/08
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Richard is partly correct. It all comes down to the stability of the bonds. There is extractable energy in all hydrocarbons bonds, but some give more energy when broken than others.
Carbon-carbon double bonds are more stable, and harder to break than single bonds. Thus, more energy must be invested to break the double bonds, and the net energy that we gain from doing this is not worth the time or effort...
Carbon-carbon double bonds are more stable, and harder to break than single bonds. Thus, more energy must be invested to break the double bonds, and the net energy that we gain from doing this is not worth the time or effort...
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