3.3. PE and PP in wastewater effluent
Two wastewater effluent samples were extracted and measured
using TGA-DSC. From the first sample (25 L), only 6 mg material between
12 μm and 1 mm could be extracted, which is a very low amount
for further analysis. Therefore, for the second sample, the volume was
increased to 57 L, from which 39 mg material could be extracted (Fig.
4). The extracted materials were not grinded, since they particle size
was already in the smaller μm range. Two and eight mg of the respective
samples were then measured with TGA-DSC to determine the proportion
of PE and PP and possibly further polymers. The amounts in mg of
PE and PP were determined by use of the calibration curves given in
Fig. 2. PE could be found in both samples at its characteristic melting
temperatures of 101 °C (Fig. 5) and was determined to account for
34% and 17% of the total extracted solids (Table 1), respectively. Anothe