Characterization of the combustion products of polyethylene

Polyethylene (PE) was burned in a tube-type furnace with an air flow at a t emperature of 600-900 degrees C. Combustion products were collected with gl ass wool, glass fiber filter, and XAD-2 adsorbent. The analysis of the prod ucts was performed with GC-FID and GC-MSD. At low temperature, hydrocarbons were the major components, while at higher temperature the products were c omposed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. With the high performance of t he Hewlett-Packard 6890GC-5973MSD, more compounds were identified in compar ison with previous studies.