Kinetics Study of Modified Coal tar Pitch Foaming

Abstract

The foaming kinetics of a modified coal tar pitch (MCTP) with a complex blowing agent (CBA) under free foaming conditions was investigated. The kinetics study showed that a rate and a foaming criterion depend on both the CBA amount and polyvinylchloride amount expended on coal tar pitch modification. Using CBA for foaming the coal tar pitch modified with polyvinylchloride, it is possible to obtain solid foams (at 150 °C) with a porosity of 24 to 76% and an apparent density of 0.31 to 1.0 g/cm3 depending on the MCTP composition. The higher the polyvinylchloride content in MCTP, the lower the density and the higher the porosity of the resulting solid foam. The research results showed the possibility of obtaining the gas-filled material based on MCTP using CBA. To obtain solid foams with a stable fine-meshed and homogeneous structure, it is necessary to optimize the conditions of MCTP foaming process. To this end, research will continue to study an effect of the pressure and the foaming temperature of MCTP on the morphological characteristics of solid foams based on it.