Mauricio, Krizzia Anne C.

September 11, 2017

CHE 512 Plastic Technology Engr. Chavez
CH52FA1

REFLECTION

Last Friday September 08, 2017, Chemical Engineerings Plant Visits and Seminars Class
conducted a Seminar entitled DesignENG: Preparing Young Engineers in Building the Future. It
was held in Career Center, Arlegui Building from 12:00pm 4:30pm. The seminar is open for
Chemical and Mechanical Engineering students.
As a young and engineering student of our society, we should know how to build our future.
Our future to be a successful engineer and when that time comes, we are the ones who is
responsible for our society and environment. We should know how to plan, manage, and work for
the things that matters, in our respective specialization, in our industry, or even in our field. All of
these things are being talked about in this seminar.
The invited speaker was Engr. Angelo Mapa, He is a Chemical Engineer. He discussed
different types of boilers, its functions and characteristics, the recent technology about boilers, and
even the problems that may encounter in it. While he is discussing, He was also asking questions
from the students, very effective way to make the ambiance alive. In line with this, Engr. Angelo
Mapa also shared how Chemical and Mechanical Engineers worked together to design and build a
specific equipment.
Overall, the seminar was very informative. For us Chemical Engineering student together
with Mechanical Engineering student, we can assure that the things we learned from this seminar
can be applied in our future endeavor.
Mauricio, Krizzia Anne C. September 11, 2017
CHE 512 Plastic Technology Engr. Chavez
CH52FA1

Discuss PLA (PolyLacticAcid)

What is PLA, and what is it used for?

Polylactic Acid (PLA) is different than most thermoplastic polymers in that it is derived from renewable
resources like corn starch or sugar cane. Most plastics, by contrast, are derived from the distillation and
polymerization of nonrenewable petroleum reserves. Plastics that are derived from biomass (e.g. PLA) are
known as bioplastics.
Polylactic Acid is biodegradable and has characteristics similar to polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or
polystyrene (PS). It can be produced from already existing manufacturing equipment (those designed and
originally used for petrochemical industry plastics). This makes it relatively cost efficient to produce.
Accordingly, PLA has the second largest production volume of any bioplastic (the most common typically
cited as thermoplastic starch).
There are a vast array of applications for Polylactic Acid. Some of the most common uses include plastic
films, bottles, and biodegradable medical devices (e.g. screws, pins, rods, and plates that are expected to
biodegrade within 6-12 months). For more on medical device prototypes (both biodegradable and permanent)
read here. PLA constricts under heat and is thereby suitable for use as a shrink wrap material. Additionally,
the ease with which Polylactic Acid melts allows for some interesting applications in 3D printing (namely lost
PLA casting - read more below). On the other hand, its low glass transition temperature makes many types
of PLA (for example, plastic cups) unsuitable to hold hot liquid.
Here is a look at some different PLA products on the market:

PLA printing filament

 PLA medical screws

What Are The Different Types of Polylactic Acid and Why is it Used so Often?
There are several different types of Polylactic Acid to include Racemic PLLA (Poly-L-lactic Acid), Regular
PLLA (Poly-L-lactic Acid), PDLA (Poly-D-lactic Acid), and PDLLA (Poly-DL-lactic Acid). They each have
slightly different characteristics but are similar in that they are produced from a renewable resource (lactic
acid: C3H6O3) as opposed to traditional plastics which are derived from nonrenewable petroleum.
PLA production is a popular idea as it represents the fulfillment of the dream of cost-efficient, non-petroleum
plastic production. The huge benefit of PLA as a bioplastic is its versatility and the fact that it naturally
degrades when exposed to the environment. For example, a PLA bottle left in the ocean would typically
degrade in six to 24 months. Compared to conventional plastics (which in the same environment can take
several hundred to a thousand years to degrade) this is truly phenomenal. Accordingly, there is a high
potential for PLA to be very useful in short lifespan applications where biodegradability is highly beneficial
(e.g. as a plastic water bottle or as a container for fruit and vegetables). Of note, despite its ability to degrade
when exposed to the elements over a long time, PLA is extremely robust in any normal application (e.g. as
a plastic electronics part).

How is PLA made?

Polylactic Acid is principally made through two different processes: condensation and polymerization. The
most common polymerization technique is known as ring-opening polymerization. This is a process that
utilizes metal catalysts in combination with lactide to create the larger PLA molecules. The condensation
process is similar with the principal difference being the temperature during the procedure and the by-
products (condensates) that are released as a consequence of the reaction.

What are the Characteristics of Polylactic Acid?

Now that we know what it is used for, lets examine some of the key properties of Polylactic Acid. PLA is
classified as a thermoplastic polyester (as opposed to thermoset), and the name has to do with the way
the plastic responds to heat. Thermoplastic materials become liquid at their melting point (150-160 degrees
Celsius in the case of PLA). A major useful attribute about thermoplastics is that they can be heated to their
melting point, cooled, and reheated again without significant degradation. Instead of burning, thermoplastics
like Polylactic Acid liquefy, which allows them to be easily injection molded and then subsequently recycled.
By contrast, thermoset plastics can only be heated once (typically during the injection molding process). The
first heating causes thermoset materials to set (similar to a 2-part epoxy) resulting in a chemical change that
cannot be reversed. If you tried to heat a thermoset plastic to a high temperature a second time it would
simply burn. This characteristic makes thermoset materials poor candidates for recycling. PLA falls under the
SPI resin identification code of 7 ("others").

Is PLA toxic?
In solid form, no. In fact, Polylactic Acid (PLA) is biodegradable. It is often used in food handling and medical
implants that biodegrade within the body over time. Like most plastics, it has the potential to be toxic if inhaled
and/or absorbed into the skin or eyes as a vapor or liquid (i.e. during manufacturing processes). Be careful
and closely follow handling instructions for molten polymer in particular.
Recently researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology published a paper on Ultrafine Particle (UFP)
emissions from commercially available 3D printers using ABS and PLA feedstock. You can read about the
results here.

What are the Disadvantages of Polylactic Acid?

PLA has a relatively low glass transition temperature (typically between 111 and 145 F). This makes it fairly
unsuitable for high temperature applications. Even things like a hot car in the summer could cause parts to
soften and deform.
Polylactic Acid is a little bit more brittle than ABS for 3D prototyping but it has some advantages as well. For
a full comparison of the two plastics as they relate to 3D printing read here.