Fundamental Studies of Polymerization Processes

1997年，美国在各种各样的聚合反应器中生产了超过1000亿磅/年的合成聚合物。这些反应器的产品最终被用于合成服装、汽车结构部件、光盘和乳胶漆等领域。PI计划继续他对聚合过程的基础研究。在这个项目中，他计划利用均相和非均相催化聚合反应器的详细模型来分析和解释观察到的聚合速率、分子量分布、共聚物组成、链分支、触感和其他性质的实验测量结果。将特别强调确定茂金属和其他单位点催化剂的动力学行为和聚合物产物特性。将实验结果与模型预测进行密切比较，以验证模型的有效性。从这些模型中，PI期望预测反应器设计和操作参数的范围，目标聚合物的性质和期望的过程行为在全尺寸反应器中是可能的。作为研究的一部分，多相热力学模型将通过使用微观模拟和实验数据来创建。这些将用于创建状态方程模型和相分离模型的几种聚合过程。预期的工作成果是更深入的理解和更好的模型-使反应器的设计和操作能够生产更均匀和更高质量的聚合物产品。

More than 100 billion pounds/year of synthetic polymers were produced in the U.S. in 1997 in a wide variety of polymerization reactors. Ultimately the products from these reactors are used in, among others, synthetic clothing, automotive structural components, optical disks, and latex paints.The PI plans to continue his research on fundamental studies of polymerization processes. In this project he plans to make use of detailed models for both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic polymerization reactors to analyze and explain observed experimental measurements of polymerization rates, molecular weight distribution, copolymer composition, chain branching, tactility, and other properties. Special emphasis will be on determining the kinetic behavior and polymer product characteristics of metallocene and other single-site catalysts. Close comparison of experimental results and model predictions will be made in order to validate the models. From these models, the PI expects to predict the range of reactor design and operation parameters for which target polymer properties and desired process behavior are possible in full scale reactors. As part of the study, multiphase thermodynamic models will be created through the use of microscale simulations and experimental data. These will be used to create equation-of-state models and phase-separation models for several classes of polymerization processes. The expected work products are a deeper understanding and better models - enabling the design and operation of reactors capable of producing more uniform and higher quality polymer products.