Thermal destruction of polychlorobiphenyl derivatives

The thermal stability of the technical mixture of polychlorobiphenyls and their alkoxy-, hydroxy-derivatives was studied by thermal analysis and mass spectrometry. The derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of polychlorobiphenyls with polyethylene glycols in the presence of alkali. It was found that the obtained alkoxy, hydroxy-derivatives of polychlorobiphenyls are less thermostable compounds as compared to the initial products. There was no evaporation process during thermal destruction of the resulting mixtures of alkoxy- and hydroxy-derivatives, and the decomposition to the simplest volatiles was observed. The thermal decomposition of the derivatives is characterized by a reduced number of hazardous chlorine-containing compounds and is less energy-consuming in comparison with the destruction of the initial mixture of polychlorobiphenyls.