Characterization of the combustion products of polyethylene

Polyethylene (PE) was burned in a tube-type furnace with an air flow at a temperature of 600900°C. Combustion products were collected with glass wool, glass fiber filter, and XAD-2 adsorbent. The analysis of the products was performed with GC-FID and GC-MSD. At low temperature, hydrocarbons were the major components, while at higher temperature the products were composed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. With the high performance of the Hewlett-Packard 6890GC-5973MSD, more compounds were identified in comparison with previous studies.