U.S.-Argentina Cooperative Research: Studies of Olefin Polymerization and Sorption in Zeolites

该奖项支持马萨诸塞大学的Willam Conner和阿根廷圣达菲化工技术发展研究所(INTEC)的Mario Chiovetta之间的合作研究。这项研究涉及马萨诸塞大学和阿根廷INTEC之间进行的烯烃聚合催化研究和在沸石中的吸附的协调计划。这项工作的重点是在实验上确定催化剂形态的变化，并量化在聚合过程中发生的热和质量传递的变化以及分子筛中的吸附。这些实验测量的参数将作为描述过程的基础，并计算聚合物生产和沸石吸附随工艺条件和催化剂形态变化的关系。合作计划将包括研究生(博士后)研究助理的交流和主要研究人员之间的互访。实验计划和扩展表征将主要在马萨诸塞大学进行，那里有反应堆系统和用于系统表征的仪器。布鲁克海文国家实验室(用于断层扫描)和巴黎大学也将进行具体的分析。阿根廷INTEC将对搅拌床聚合系统进行平行的聚合反应研究，形态分析将主要在马萨诸塞大学进行。INTEC将是这项合作研究的建模和模拟研究的主要中心。他们将继续他们开创性的聚合模型研究，并开发沸石体系的并行分析。

This award supports cooperative reseach between Willam Conner of the University of Massachusetts and Mario Chiovetta of the Institute of Technology Development for the Chemical Industry in Santa Fe, Argentina (INTEC). This research involves a coordinated program of olefin polymerization catalysis research and sorption in zeolites to be conducted between the University of Massachusetts and INTEC in Argentina. The focus of the work is to experimentally determine the changes in catalyst morphology and to quantify the changes in the thermal and mass transport that occur during the polymerization process and sorption within zeolites. These experimentally measured parameters will be used as the basis for representing the processes and calculating the dependence of the polymer production and of zeolite sorption on the process conditions and the changing catalyst morphology. The cooperative program will involve both exchanges of graduate (postdoctoral) research assistants and visits between principal investigators. The experimental program and extended characterization will primarily be conducted at the University of Massachusetts where the reactor systems and instruments for system characterization are available. Specific analyses are also to be conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratories (for the tomography) and the University of Paris. Parallel polymer- ization reaction studies will be conducted at INTEC in Argentina for a stirred bed polymerization system with morphological analyses to be primarily conducted at the University of Massachusetts. INTEC will be the main center of the modelling and simulation studies for this collaborative research. They will continue their pioneering modelling studies of polymerization and develop the parallel analyses of zeolitic systems.