Development of a Continuous Emulsion Copolymerization Process in a Tubular Reactor

作者：Carvalho Antonio C S M; Chicoma Dennis L; Sayer Claudia; Giudici Reinaldo^*

来源：Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2010, 49(21): 10262-10273.

DOI：10.1021/ie100422v

This contribution describes the development of a continuous emulsion copolymerization processs for vinyl acetate and n-butyl acrylate in a tubular reactor. Special features of this reactor include the use of oscillatory (pulsed) flow and internals (sieve plates) to prevent polymer fouling and promote good radial mixing, along with a controlled amount of axial mixing. The copolymer system studied (vinyl acetate and butyl acrylate) is strongly prone to composition drift due to very different reactivity ratios. An axially dispersed plug flow model, based on classical free radical copolymerization kinetics, was developed for this process and used successfully to optimize the lateral feeding profile to reduce compositional drift. An energy balance was included in the model equations to predict the effect of temperature variations on the process. The model predictions were validated with experimental data for monomer conversion, copolymer composition, average particle size, and temperature measured along the reactor length.

• 出版日期2010-11-3