Fundamental Studies of Polymerization Processes

在美国，在各种各样的聚合反应器中每年大约生产600亿磅的合成聚合物。这些反应堆产品的最终用途包括合成纤维衣物和乳胶漆。聚合物可在间歇、半间歇和连续反应器中生产。聚合反应工程试图通过工艺设计和控制方面的创新来提高聚合物的产量。三个重要的领域包括：(1)需要了解反应器的动力学，在这些反应器中，大的放热、高粘度和困难的散热导致难以设计有效的控制机制；(2)开发用于生产聚烯烃(聚乙烯、聚丙烯等--商品聚合物)的连续的液态和气相工艺；以及(3)开发缩聚聚合物的新工艺(例如，纤维和工程塑料都是用这种方法生产的)。PI计划继续对间歇式、半间歇式和连续聚合反应器进行实验和理论研究，以加深对发生的化学和物理现象的了解，并利用这种理解来：(1)设计改进的反应器设计，提供更好的聚合物性能控制，并将困难的动力学降至最低。通过定量确定产生振荡和稳定性问题的操作条件和系统参数的范围，可以开发出满足聚合物产品规格并具有良好经济性的设计程序，同时避免导致困难的动态行为的参数组合。(2)开发用于反应器和聚合物颗粒的新型在线传感器，允许对产品进行更紧密的质量控制，并将这些新型在线聚合物性能传感器与反馈策略相结合，提供控制方案，从而实现安全的动态操作和对产品质量的严密控制。(3)为现有和新兴类别的聚合物产品设计新的反应器设计。

Approximately 60 billion lbs/year of synthetic polymers are produced in the U.S., in a wide variety of polymerization reactors. The ultimate use of the products from these reactors ranges from synthetic clothing to latex paints. Polymers are manufactured in batch, semibatch, and continuous reactors. Polymerization reaction engineering attempts to improve the production of polymers through innovations in process design and control. Three areas of importance include (1) a need to understand the dynamics of the reactors in which large heat release, high viscosity, and difficult heat removal contribute to difficulties in designing effective control mechanisms; (2) the development of continuous liquid and gas phase processes for polyolefin (polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., - commodity polymers) production; and (3) developing new processes for polymers made by polycondensation (fibers and engineering plastics, for example are produced by this method). The PI plans to continue experimental and theoretical research on batch, semibatch, and continuous polymerization reactors in order to develop an understanding of the chemical and physical phenomena occurring, and use this understanding to: (1) Devise improved reactor designs which provide better control control of polymer properties and also minimize difficult dynamics. By quantitatively determining the ranges of operating conditions and system parameters for which oscillations and stability problems arise, design procedures can be developed which satisfy the polymer product specifications and have good economics but which avoid those parameter combinations that lead to difficult dynamic behavior. (2) Develop new types of on-line sensors for the reactor and polymer particles which allow closer quality control of the product and the combination of these new on-line polymer property sensors with feedback strategies to provide control schemes which lead to safe dynamic operation and close control of product quality. (3) Devise new reactor designs for existing and emerging classes of polymer products.