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2008
Conference Paper
Titel
The influence of processing conditions on plastic material odor
Abstract
Odor evaluation of plastic products for a certain application e. g. for automotive interior can result in very differing odor intensity ratings and odor quality descriptions. Odor analysis reveals divers odorant compositions and concentrations. These differences certainly can be due to differences in formulation, different starting materials, ingredients and additives. But it also occurs that two products with the same formulation significantly differ in odor. This can even be the case if (on paper) the processing conditions have been the same. Two "same" products could have been produced on two different days, the batch of a starting ingredient could have been different but also the processing temperature, the pressure conditions, the residence time in a machine, the presence of oxygen, the storage conditions of the materials, etc. could have been (only slightly) different and resulted in different odor properties. The influence of formulation as well as the influence of processing conditions like temperature, machine residence time on the odor of selected plastic products, in particular a thermoplastic poly olefin (TPO), was investigated. Studies show that formulation certainly but also processing conditions do have a big impact on plastic material odor but also offer points for controlled intervention and product optimization.