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Topic: PVC ( cable insulating material) dissolving solvent  (Read 2019 times)

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Offline kavin011

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PVC ( cable insulating material) dissolving solvent
« on: August 29, 2019, 12:15:59 PM »
Dear All,                     
       Kindly let me know that which solvent can dissolve PVC ( cable insulating material)?

Offline Corribus

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Re: PVC ( cable insulating material) dissolving solvent
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2019, 03:39:54 PM »
THF, but it'll take some time.

Bear in mind PVC is often heavily plasticized, so this will affect the solubility.
What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were like a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?  - Richard P. Feynman

Offline Enthalpy

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Re: PVC ( cable insulating material) dissolving solvent
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2019, 06:58:42 AM »
Unless there are excellent reasons, solvent isn't the easier way to go. PVC resists most solvents, they use to be nasty and act slowly, and afterwards they will be loaded with nasty compounds from PVC that you don't want in you body. A compatibility list is there, "severe effect" gives some hope of action:
https://www.spillcontainment.com/media/2586/pvc-chem-compat-10-2-15-use-sf-link.pdf

Burning PVC would be much worse.

A mechanical tool is the standard way to go. The best ones look like that
https://www.ebay.de/itm/303229718683
https://www.ebay.de/itm/303230632614
reliable, accurate, strip short or long PVC length, can cut the copper too.

===== For huge amounts, say at a recycling plant

Try to melt the PVC, possibly in already liquid PVC from the previous batch, but the fumes will be nasty.

Or could a hot non-volatile solvent act quickly and reduce the bad fumes from PVC thanks to lower temperature? Most solvents I thought of are associated with health scandals. Maybe diphenyl ether or the mixture Dowtherm A, or phenanthrene, or (flammable!) rosin. Maybe a reasonable salt (no nitrate), possibly hydrated, that melts readily enough like MgCl2*6H2O, if it dissolves PVC. A hot solvent would separate the dissolved PVC just by cooling down.

The big way, using an adequate machine, a condensing solvent could be efficient and self-cleaning. Tetrachloroethylene worked in dry-cleaners and is a solvent for PVC but its toxicity let phase it out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_cleaning

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