Table 1.
Efficiencies of the decontamination of the continuous reactor (step 3) at the shortest residence time tested in the reactor of step 3
| Surrogates | Concentrationa of surrogates before step 3 (mg/kg PET) | Concentrationb of surrogates after step 3 (mg/kg PET) | Decontamination efficiencyc (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toluene | 202 | 1.9 | 95.4 |
| Chlorobenzene | 361 | 3.4 | 95.4 |
| Chloroform | 291 | 2.0 | 96.5 |
| Methyl salicylate | 143 | 4.9 | 83.1 |
| Phenylcyclohexane | 364 | 6.8 | 90.8 |
| Benzophenone | 480 | 14.5 | 85.0 |
| Methyl stearate | 360 | 6.8 | 90.6 |
PET: poly(ethylene terephthalate).
a
Initial concentration in the contaminated PET flakes.
b
Residual concentration calculated for green flakes after decontamination.
c
Decontamination efficiency of the step 3 reactor in the challenge test and after correction for cross‐contamination (see text).