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Polymerization Reactor (polymerization + reactor)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Polymers and Materials Science	52%
Chemistry	36%

Selected Abstracts

A Grade Transition Strategy for the Prevention of Melting and Agglomeration of Particles in an Ethylene Polymerization Reactor

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 7 2005
M. R. Rahimpour
Abstract To satisfy the diverse product quality specifications required by the broad range of polyethylene applications, polymerization plants are forced to operate under frequent grade transition policies. During the grade transition, the reactor temperature must be kept within the narrow range between the gas dew point and the polymer melting point, otherwise the particles melt or agglomerate inside the reactor. In the present study, a dynamic well-mixed reactor model is used to develop a grade transition strategy to prevent melting and agglomeration of particles in an ethylene polymerization reactor. The model predicts the conditions under which the temperature of the reactor is outside the allowable range in continuous grade transition. Manipulation of feed flow and cooling water flow rates has shown that the reactor temperature cannot be maintained within the allowable range. Hence, a semi-continuous grade transition strategy is used for this case so that the temperature is maintained within the allowable range. In addition, several continuous and semi-continuous grade transition strategies for the production of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), medium density polyethylene (MDPE), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are compared. [source]

Dynamic On-Line Reoptimization Control of a Batch MMA Polymerization Reactor Using Hybrid Neural Network Models

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 9 2004
Y. Tian
Abstract A hybrid neural network model based on-line reoptimization control strategy is developed for a batch polymerization reactor. To address the difficulties in batch polymerization reactor modeling, the hybrid neural network model contains a simplified mechanistic model covering material balance assuming perfect temperature control, and recurrent neural networks modeling the residuals of the simplified mechanistic model due to imperfect temperature control. This hybrid neural network model is used to calculate the optimal control policy. A difficulty in the optimal control of batch polymerization reactors is that the optimization effort can be seriously hampered by unknown disturbances such as reactive impurities and reactor fouling. With the presence of an unknown amount of reactive impurities, the off-line calculated optimal control profile will be no longer optimal. To address this issue, a strategy combining on-line reactive impurity estimation and on-line reoptimization is proposed in this paper. The amount of reactive impurities is estimated on-line during the early stage of a batch by using a neural network based inverse model. Based on the estimated amount of reactive impurities, on-line reoptimization is then applied to calculate the optimal reactor temperature profile for the remaining time period of the batch reactor operation. This approach is illustrated on the optimization control of a simulated batch methyl methacrylate polymerization process. [source]

Effect of Reaction Conditions and Catalyst Design on the Rheological Properties of Polyolefins Produced in Gas-Phase Olefin Polymerization Reactors

MACROMOLECULAR THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, Issue 9 2008
P. Pladis
Abstract A model is developed to predict the viscoelastic behavior of polyolefins produced in catalytic polymerization reactors. The approach is based on the solution of different sub-models (e.g., a kinetic model, a single particle model, a macroscopic reactor model and a rheological model). From the calculated rheological curve, the polymer melt index is determined. The ability of the proposed model to predict the viscoelastic behavior of linear polymer melts quantitatively is examined for the operation of a catalytic olefin polymerization cascade-loop reactor process. In addition, the transient rheological properties of polyolefins produced in a Ziegler-Natta gas-phase olefin polymerization fluidized-bed reactor are calculated. [source]

Recursive estimation in constrained nonlinear dynamical systems

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2005
Pramod Vachhani
In any modern chemical plant or refinery, process operation and the quality of product depend on the reliability of data used for process monitoring and control. The task of improving the quality of data to be consistent with material and energy balances is called reconciliation. Because chemical processes often operate dynamically in nonlinear regimes, techniques such as extended-Kalman filter (EKF) and nonlinear dynamic data reconciliation (NDDR) have been developed for reconciliation. There are various issues that arise with the use of either of these techniques. EKF cannot handle inequality or equality constraints, whereas the NDDR has high computational cost. Therefore, a more efficient and robust method is required for reconciling process measurements and estimating parameters involved in nonlinear dynamic processes. Two solution techniques are presented: recursive nonlinear dynamic data reconciliation (RNDDR) and a combined predictor,corrector optimization (CPCO) method for efficient state and parameter estimation in nonlinear systems. The proposed approaches combine the efficiency of EKF and the ability of NDDR to handle algebraic inequality and equality constraints. Moreover, the CPCO technique allows deterministic parameter variation, thus relaxing another restriction of EKF where the parameter changes are modeled through a discrete stochastic equation. The proposed techniques are compared against the EKF and the NDDR formulations through simulation studies on a continuous stirred tank reactor and a polymerization reactor. In general, the RNDDR performs as well as the two traditional approaches, whereas the CPCO formulation provides more accurate results than RNDDR at a marginal increase in computational cost. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 51: 946,959, 2005 [source]

Economical Advantages of Low-Pressure Plasma Polymerization Coating

PLASMA PROCESSES AND POLYMERS, Issue 6 2005
Hirotsugu Yasuda
Abstract Summary: Low-pressure plasma polymerization coating, as described in this paper, is an ultimately green process that uses a minimum amount of substances and produces a minimum amount of effluent and hence does not require an environmental remediation process. The super-green aspect of the processing entirely changes the equation for the viability of the process in industrial applications. The main hampering factors for the low-pressure processes are 1) psychological fear of vacuum processes, 2) relatively high initial equipment costs, and 3) a lack of adequate cost estimate for the entire process. In many cases, the first two factors are enough for planners to shy away from this promising technology. However, when one examines the overall cost of processing as a whole, the cost of initial equipment often is not the decisive factor. Such cases are presented in the nano-film coating applied in corrosion protection of aluminum alloys, steel, and surface-state modification of contact lenses. The benefits of environmental friendliness, non-hazardous processing and superior performance of products that can be achieved only by low-pressure plasma polymerization coatings are more than enough to compensate the initial cost of the equipment. For nanofilm (20 nm) coatings, the most expensive annual operation cost is for wastewater treatment, which is much more than the initial cost of vacuum plasma polymerization reactor. [source]

A stochastic flow model for a tubular solution polymerization reactor

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 11 2007
Ardson dos S. Vianna Jr.
Residence time distributions were evaluated experimentally for three tubular solution polymerization reactors to analyze aspects of the fluid-dynamic behavior of these reactors. The analysis of the available experimental data indicates that the flow characteristics of these reactors may be subject to stochastic perturbations. A stochastic flow model is then proposed by assuming that a viscous polymer layer is formed in the proximities of the reactor walls and that plugs of polymer material are released at random during the operations. This model is able to represent the available experimental data fairly well for three tubular reactors with different configurations. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:1839,1846, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers [source]

Nonlinear temperature control of a batch suspension polymerization reactor

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 6 2002
Mohammad Shahrokhi
This paper concerns nonlinear temperature control of a batch polymerization reactor where suspension polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) takes place. For this purpose, four control algorithms, namely, a fix proportional-integral (PI) controller, an adaptive proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller and two globally linearizing control (GLC) schemes, one for known kinetic model (GLC-I) and the other for unknown kinetic model (GLC-II), are selected. The performances of these controllers are compared through simulation and real-time studies in the presence of different levels of parameter uncertainty. The results indicate that GLCI and GLC-II have better performances than fix PI and adaptive PID, especially in case of strong gel effect. The worst performance belongs to adaptive PID because of rapid model changes in gel effect region. GLC-II has a simpler structure than GLC-I and can be used without requiring the kinetic model. In implementation of GLC-I the closed loop observer should be used because of model uncertainties. [source]

Propylene polymerization in a semibatch reactor.

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 12 2001
Analysis of soluble metallocene catalyst behavior through reactor modeling
We study the process involved in metallocene activation and further propylene polymerization. In this paper, we begin by analyzing the behavior of soluble metallocene in propylene polymerization before advancing to the study of the heterogeneous polymerization. Experimental data obtained in a semibatch laboratory polymerization reactor using ethylenbisindenylzirconium dichloride (EtInd2ZrCl2)/ methylaluminoxane (MAO) are combined with a mathermatical model providing useful information such as number of active sites and their activation patterns. We present a mathematical model for the reactor that predicts not only reactor productivity but also the molecular properties of the product. We apply the model to soluble systems in order to find the optimal parameters for the catalyst itself and in the presence of different types of additives such as aluminum chloride (AlCl3) and ethyl benzoate (E.B.). [source]

Optimal grade transition control for liquid-propylene polymerization reactor,

ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 3 2010
Mohammad Al-haj Ali
Abstract A nonlinear control system integrating an off-line optimizer and a nonlinear model-based controller is developed to perform optimal grade transition operations in a continuous pilot plant reactor. A simple black-box model is developed and used to determine optimal trajectories of inputs and outputs for a series of three polypropylene grades. The simplified model is also used to develop a nonlinear controller. This controller is similar to generic model control; however, the integral action is omitted and an on-line updating scheme is incorporated to update pre-specified model parameters using delayed process measurements. The time optimal inputs, which are calculated by the off-line optimizer, are introduced to the plant in a feedforward manner. At the same time, the deviations from the optimal output are corrected using the feedback nonlinear controller. The simulations on a complex mechanistic model of the process reveal that the nonlinear control scheme performs well for both set point tracking and disturbance rejection. This paper integrates well-known methodologies, such as the generic-model control algorithm, parameter update schemes, and off-line optimization, together to develop an applicable and robust control technique for continuous polymerization reactors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source]

State estimation of a solid-state polymerization reactor for PET based on improved SR-UKF

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2010
Ji Liu
Abstract A state estimator for the continuous solid-state polymerization (SSP) reactor of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is designed in this study. Because of its invalidity in the application to some of the practical examples such as SSP processes, the square-root unscented Kalman filter (SR-UKF) algorithm is improved for the state estimation of arbitrary nonlinear systems with linear measurements. Discussions are given on how to avoid the filter invalidation and accumulating additional error. Orthogonal collocation method has been used to spatially discretize the reactor model described by nonlinear partial differential equations. The reactant concentrations on chosen collocation points are reconstructed from the outlet measurements corrupted with a large noise. Furthermore, the error performance of the developed ISR-UKF is investigated under the influence of various initial parameters, inaccurate measurement noise parameters and model mismatch. Simulation results show that this technique can produce fast convergence and good approximations for the state estimation of SSP reactor. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

A Grade Transition Strategy for the Prevention of Melting and Agglomeration of Particles in an Ethylene Polymerization Reactor

Dynamic On-Line Reoptimization Control of a Batch MMA Polymerization Reactor Using Hybrid Neural Network Models

The role of a novel p -phenylen-bis-maleamic acid grafted atactic polypropylene interfacial modifier in polypropylene/mica composites as evidenced by tensile properties

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 6 2009
J. M. García-Martínez
Abstract Present work is devoted to the study of the tensile behavior of polypropylene (PP)/mica composites with improved interfacial interactions from the matrix side caused by the presence of a p -phenylen-bis-maleamic acid grafted atactic polypropylene (aPP- pPBM) as an interfacial agent. Hence, aPP- pPBM was previously obtained, in our laboratories, by reactive processing in the melt of a by-product (atactic PP) from industrial polymerization reactors. Present article is two-fold, on one hand it has been planned to evidence the so called interfacial effects caused by this novel interfacial agent (aPP- pPBM) yielding better final properties of the heterogeneous system as a whole as revealed by tensile mechanical properties, and on the other to obtain models to forecast the overall behavior of the system. For such purpose, a Box-Wilson experimental design considering the amount of mica particles and of interfacial agent as independent variables was used to obtain polynomials to forecast the behavior of the PP/Mica system in the experimental space scanned. The existence of a critical amount of aPP- pPBM to optimize mechanical properties appears to emerge. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009 [source]

Effect of Reaction Conditions and Catalyst Design on the Rheological Properties of Polyolefins Produced in Gas-Phase Olefin Polymerization Reactors

Incipient stable bubble formation during bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate under near-isothermal conditions.

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 12 2009

Methyl methacrylate is polymerized under near-isothermal conditions in a 1-l stainless steel batch reactor having a glass bottom and stirred with an anchor agitator. A camcorder is used to obtain images of the entrapped vapor bubbles at different times so as to identify the point, Bi, where stable clusters of vapor bubbles first (incipient) get formed. This is being referred to as the transition point. Data on the monomer conversion, xm,Bi, the weight average molecular weight, Mw,Bi, and the viscosity, ,Bi, of the reaction mass at this point have been generated for a variety of experimental conditions. It is observed that the pressure above the liquid reaction mixture and the RPM of the stirrer have little effect on the results in the ranges studied. Correlations have been developed for xm,Bi, Mw,Bi, and ,Bi, relating these to the initiator loading, Io, and the constant set-point temperature, T. Results are compared with those obtained earlier for reactors stirred with ribbon agitators. The transition point is useful for the design of the first stage of polymerization reactors. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers [source]