Modeling of ethylene copolymerization in nonisothermal high‐pressure reactors using bifunctional initiators

Enhancing the performance of high‐pressure LDPE process is valuable for polymer industry. However, the severe thermodynamics requirement of high pressure and temperature hinders the reaction process from getting simultaneously high monomer conversion and polymer molecular weights. Bifunctional peroxides used as initiators can boost the polymerization rate and alter rheological polymer properties. This article proposes a new kinetics model of ethylene/butyl acrylate copolymerization with bifunctional initiators in a high‐pressure nonisothermal tubular reactor. Model predictions are compared with available data. A SQP optimization scheme is employed to determine a suitable wall temperature for each zone along the nonisothermal tubular reactor. In comparison with the monofunctional TBPPI peroxide, a lower amount of the bifunctional DHBPPI peroxide is needed to get a higher conversion in shorter residence time, but at the expense of higher thermal energy. The results also showed that polymers produced with bifunctional peroxides are significantly more branched. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:74–85, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Modeling and optimization of a high-pressure ethylene polymerization reactor using gPROMS

A gPROMS implementation of a comprehensive steady-state model of the high-pressure polymerization of ethylene in a tubular reactor is presented. Model outputs along the reactor length include the complete molecular weight distribution and branching indexes, as well as monomer conversion, average molecular weights, reactants’ compositions, and reactor temperature and pressure. A detailed calculation of physical and transport properties, such as the reaction mixture density, heat-transfer capacity, viscosity and global heat-transfer coefficient is also included. The reactor model is included in an optimization framework that is used to determine the best operating conditions for producing a polymer with tailor-made molecular structure in terms of the complete molecular weight distribution, branching and polydispersity.     

High pressure polymerization of ethylene and rheological behavior of polyethylene product

A mathematical model of the high pressure polymerization of ethylene in tubular reactors was tested with experimental data obtained from an industrial size tubular reactor. Series of experiments involving changes in operating conditions were carried out, and process data and polyethylene samples were collected. The collected samples were characterized for their molecular weight distributions and various rheological material functions involving shear and extensional flows. The findings of the model were compared against the generated process data and the molecular weight distributions of the samples. The determined rheological behavior exhibited strong dependence on the primary characteristics of the resins. Overall, this study should introduce a better understanding of the interactions between high pressure reaction conditions and the primary properties of polyethylene, including moments of molecular weight distribution and extent of branching on one hand and the interrelationships between primary properties and the rheological behavior of the high pressure polyethylene product on the other hand.     

Prediction of molar mass distribution,number and weight average degree of polymerization and branching of low density polyethylene

An extended mathematical model of an autoclave reactor for the high pressure polymerization of ethylene is presented. It allows one to predict not only the conversion but also the molar mass distribution, short and long chain branching, number and weight average degree of polymerization as a function of the synthesis conditions. The model includes the initiation step, chain growth, chain termination by disproportionation and combination, chain transfer to the monomer, polymer and modifier, and intramolecular chain transfer in the polymer radical. Number and weight average degrees of polymerization were computed by means of generating functions. For the calculation of the molar mass distribution recursion formulae are given. The performance of the model is shown by the good agreement of the predicted values with the experimental data.     

Dynamic modelling of the continuous emulsion polymerization of vinyl chloride

A dynamic model for the continuous emulsion polymerization of vinyl chloride (VCM) in a train of stirred tank reactors has been developed. This model can predict monomer conversion, polymer particle size distribution (PSD), molecular weight distribution and long and short chain branching frequencies under non-steady reactor operation during startup, reactor switching and during unstable operation when conversion and polymer and polymer particle properties oscillate with time. The model has been used to design a flexible reactor train configuration which operates in a stable mode and can produce latexes with a wide range of properties including a bimodal polymer particle size distribution.     

Highly efficient reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization in ethanol/water via flow chemistry

Utilization of a flow reactor under high pressure allows highly efficient polymer synthesis via reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer (RAFT ) polymerization in an aqueous system. Compared with the batch reaction, the flow reactor allows the RAFT polymerization to be performed in a high‐efficiency manner at the same temperature. The adjustable pressure of the system allows further elevation of the reaction temperature and hence faster polymerization. Other reaction parameters, such as flow rate and initiator concentration, were also well studied to tune the monomer conversion and the molar mass dispersity (?) of the obtained polymers. Gel permeation chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies (FTIR) were utilized to monitor the polymerization process. With the initiator concentration of 0.15 mmol L^?1, polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate with monomer conversion of 52% at 100 °C under 73 bar can be achieved within 40 min with narrow molar mass dispersity (D) ? (<1.25). The strategy developed here provides a method to produce well‐defined polymers via RAFT polymerization with high efficiency in a continuous manner. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Highly active peroxides in the radical polymerization of ethylene under high pressure — conversion and initiator usage

By using highly active peroxides, it is possible to reduce the polymerization temperature necessary for the synthesis of low density polyethylene. In order to examine a number of peroxides for their suitability as low temperature initiators, polymerization tests were carried out at 1900 bar, 70–140°C, with an average residence time of 30 s in a continuously operating laboratory facility equipped with a stirred autoclave. Apart from a number of perneodecanoates, two peroxy dicarbonates, a sulphonyl peroxide, and a difunctional peroxide were used. The initiator consumption was high at polymerization temperatures below 100°C. The results obtained with the different peroxides varied considerably. As the temperature increased, the initiator consumption decreased rapidly to reach almost the same level for all the individual peroxides at above 120°C. The difunctional compound that proved highly suitable for the low polymerization temperatures desired was 1,4-di-(2-neodecanoyl peroxy isopropyl)benzene, the consumption at 100°C of which amounted to 13 g initiator/kg PE. Using a quantity of 40 g initiator/kg PE, a reactor temperature of 82°C could be employed. The peroxy dicarbonates and tertiary butyl perneodecanoate gave less satisfactory results.     

Optimal operation of ethylene polymerization reactors for tailored molecular weight distribution

This work presents a comprehensive steady‐state model of the high‐pressure ethylene polymerization in a tubular reactor able to calculate the complete molecular weight distribution (MWD). For this purpose, the probability generating function technique is employed. The model is included in an optimization framework, which is used to determine optimal reactor designs and operating conditions for producing a polymer with tailored MWD. Two application examples are presented. The first one involves maximization of conversion to obtain a given MWD, typical of industrial operation. Excellent agreement between the resulting MWD and the target one is achieved with a conversion about 5% higher than the ones commonly reported for this type of reactor. The second example consists in finding the design and operating conditions necessary to produce a polymer with a bimodal MWD. The optimal design for this case involves a split of the initiator, monomer, and modifier feeds between the main stream and two lateral injections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work dealing with the optimization of this process in which a tailored shape for the MWD is included. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

Heterogeneous Catalytic Polymerization of Ethylene in Microtubular Reactor Systems

The feasibility of using a microtubular reactor for heterogeneous polymerization of ethylene was investigated experimentally. Chemically inert polymer tubing of 800–2300 μm in inner diameter was fabricated and used as a polymerization reactor. Nonporous silica nanoparticles with a diameter of 400 nm were synthesized and used as support for the high‐activity rac‐ethylene(indenyl)₂ZrCl₂ catalyst with methylaluminoxane as cocatalyst and toluene as diluent. Large‐diameter microtubular reactors were also successfully used to conduct heterogeneous polymerization of ethylene in continuous reaction operations. High initial catalyst activity was obtained and the overall polymerization activity per volume or reactor length was quite high. No particle fragmentation occurred and the polymer particles were covered with small subgrains or nanofibrils with a diameter of 30 nm.     

Modeling gel effect in branched polymer systems: Free‐radical solution homopolymerization of vinyl acetate

In this work a comprehensive mathematical framework is developed for modeling gel effect in branched polymer systems with application in the solution polymerization of vinyl acetate. This model is based on sound principles such as the free‐volume theory for polymer chains diffusion. The model predictions for monomer conversion and number‐ and weight‐average molecular weights were found to be in good agreement with published data in the literature. Moreover, the joint molecular‐weight distribution–long chain branching distribution is calculated by direct numerical integration of a large system of nonlinear ordinary integral‐differential equations describing the mass conservation of macromolecular species in a batch reactor. This allows studying the effect of process conditions such as initiator and solvent concentration on the product quality. It is believed that this work might contribute to a more rational design of polymerization reactors. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Experimental investigation of vinyl chloride polymerization at high conversion—reactor dynamics

A series of suspension polymerizations of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) was carried out in a 5-L pilot plant reactor over the temperature range, 40–70°C. The reactor pressure and monomer conversion were monitored simultaneously every 7–8 min. The critical conversion X_f, at which the liquid monomer phase is consumed, was considered to occur when the reactor pressure fell to 98% of the vapor pressure of VCM for suspension at the polymerization temperature. The reactor model predictions of pressure are in excellent agreement with the experimental data over the entire conversion and temperature ranges studied. The mechanism of reactor pressure development for VCM suspension polymerization is discussed herein in some detail. For isothermal batch polymerization, the reactor pressure falls in two stages due to the effect of polymer particle morphology on pressure drop. The first stage is due to the volume increase of the vapor phase as a result of volume shrinkage due to conversion of monomer to polymer. The monomer phase is not yet consumed at this stage, but it is trapped in the interstices between primary particles creating a mass transfer resistance; therefore, the reactor pressure drops slowly. The second stage is due to both the volume increase of the vapor phase and to the monomer in the vapor phase diffusing into the polymer phase because of the subsaturation condition with respect to monomer in the polymer phase. The reactor pressure drops dramatically with an increase in monomer conversion at this stage. The present model can be used to predict reactor dynamics during suspension polymerization under varying temperature and pressure conditions.     

Structure and properties of polyethylene produced by γ-radiation polymerization in flow system

The radiation-induced polymerization of ethylene was carried out by use of a benchscale plant with a flow-type reactor of 1 liter capacity under the following conditions: pressure, 200–400 kg/cm²; temperature, 30–90°C; irradiation intensity, 3.8 × 10⁵ rad/hr; and ethylene flow rate, 300–3000 nl/hr. The molecular weight of polymer formed was shown to decrease with increasing reaction temperature and to increase with increasing pressure. When the ethylene flow rate increases, the molecular weight decreases in the polymerization at 30–60°C, but it does not change in the polymerization at 75–90°C. Methyl group content, which is a measure of short-chain branching of the polymer, increases with increasing reaction temperature, i.e., ca. 1 CH₃/1000 CH₂ at 30°C and ca. 9 CH₃/1000 CH₂ at 90°C. Methyl content is independent of the ethylene flow rate. The changes in the melt index of polymer with reaction conditions corresponds to the change of the molecular weight. The density, crystallinity, and melting point of polymer decrease with the reaction temperature as the short-chain branching increases, and they are almost independent of ethylene flow rate and pressure.     

Melt polycondensation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) in a rotating disk reactor

A multicompartment model is proposed for a semibatch melt polycondensation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) in a rotating disk polymerization reactor and compared with laboratory experimental data. The reactor is a horizontal cylindrical vessel with a horizontal shaft on which multiple disks are mounted. The reactor is assumed to comprise N equal sized compartments and each compartment consists of a film phase on the rotating disk and a bulk phase in which disks are partially immersed. The effects of disk rotating speed, number of disks, reaction temperature, and pressure were investigated. It was observed that ethylene glycol is predominantly removed from thin polymer layers on the rotating disks and the enhanced interfacial area exerted by ethylene glycol bubbles accounts for about 30–50% of the total available interfacial mass transfer area. Although the rate of polymerization increases as more disks are used, the maximum number of disks in a reactor must be determined properly in order to prevent the formation of thick polymer films that result in a reduced specific interfacial area and reduced polymerization efficiency. At a fixed reaction pressure, the equilibrium conversion is reached but the rate of reaction can be further increased by increasing the reaction temperature. The results of the proposed multicompartment model are also compared with those predicted by a simple one-parameter model. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A COMPREHENSIVE MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR A MULTIZONE TUBULAR HIGH PRESSURE LDPE REACTOR

In this study a comprehensive mathematical model of high pressure tubular ethylene polymerization reactors is presented. A fairly general reaction mechanism is employed to describe the complex kinetics of ethylene polymerization. To determine the variation of molecular properties along the reactor length the method of moments is applied to the infinite set of species balance equations to transform it into a low order system of differential equations in terms of the leading moments of the number chain length distribution. Detailed algebraic equations are given describing the variation of kinetic rate constants, thermodynamic and transport properties of the reaction mixture with temperature, pressure and composition. A new correlation is derived to describe the change of reaction viscosity with reactor operating conditions. The model permits a realistic calculation of temperature and pressure profiles, monomer and initiator concentrations, molecular properties of LDPE (i.e. M_n, M_m, LCB and SCB) as well as the variation of inside film heat transfer coefficient with respect to the reactor length. Simulation results are presented illustrating the effects of initiator concentration, inlet pressure, chain transfer concentration and wall fouling on the polymer quality and reactor operation. The present model predictions are in good agreement with experimental observations in industrial high pressure tubular LDPE reactors.     

Rheological and molecular properties of organic peroxide induced long chain branching of recycled and virgin high density polyethylene resin

Commercial blow molding grade recycled high density polyethylene (R‐HDPE) and blow molding grade virgin high density polyethylene (V‐HDPE) were reactively extruded with various compositions (0.00–0.15% wt/wt) of different peroxides in a twin screw extruder. The aim was to produce the extended chain mechanism of a blow molding grade HDPE photopolymer—a polymer resin comprising a significant part of the post consumer recycled plastic stream in Australia. In shear rheological tests, the modified material exhibited an increase in viscoelastic properties and complex viscosity compared to unmodified counterparts. Higher extent of viscoelastic properties enhancement was observed with 1, 3 1, 4 BIS (tert‐butylperoxyisopropyl) Benzene (OP2). This could be attributed to the higher degree of branching. The weight average molecular weight of the all modified materials and its molecular weight distribution (MWD) widened with peroxide modification. These results also support that formation of branching dominates the modification process at molecular level. Increase in branching index (g′) with increase in peroxide composition also confirmed higher degree of branching. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Study of Ethylene Polymerization Under Single Liquid Phase and Vapor‐Liquid Phase Conditions in a Continuous‐Flow Tubular Reactor

The feasibility of using continuous‐flow tubular reactors (CFTR) as an efficient research tool for polymerization reactions is investigated. This is a continuation of the extensive effort that had been made at Dow in recent years to set up and employ an electro‐thermal microreactor (an ohmically‐heated CFTR), which resulted in several internal and external publications and a US Patent. The main focus of this work is to investigate the effect of operating conditions and flow composition, mainly the number of existing phases, on the molecular weight of the polymer. A series of polymerization experiments were performed in single‐phase (liquid) and two‐phase (vapor‐liquid) flow regimes. In single‐phase polymerization, the ethylene concentration falls continuously along the length of the reactor. This will have a significant effect on the kinetics of polymerization, particularly the molecular weight of the produced polymer. A key advantage of operating in the two‐phase region is that an almost constant ethylene concentration is maintained along the length of the reactor. In effect, the vapor phase serves as a reservoir that replenishes the ethylene consumed in the liquid phase by polymerization. The molecular weight data show that this assumption is valid provided that the rate of mass transfer is significantly higher than the rate of the polymerization reaction.     

Synthesis and characterization of first‐ and second‐generation polyamide pyridylimine nickel dihalide metallodendrimers and their uses as catalysts for ethylene polymerization

First‐ and second‐generation pyridylimine‐terminated dendrimeric ligands were prepared by the reaction of the corresponding amine‐terminated aromatic polyamide dendrimers with 2‐acetylpyridine. The pyridylimine terminal groups were used as bidentate N,N ligands of nickel halide to prepare the corresponding first‐generation and second‐generation nickel dihalide metallodendrimers C1 and C2 , respectively. The synthesized dendrimers and metallodendrimers were characterized by elemental and spectral analyses. C1 and C2 were evaluated as catalyst precursors for ethylene oligomerization after being activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) and diethylaluminum chloride (Et₂AlCl) under 1 atm and 5 atm pressure of ethylene. In both cases, the use of 1 atm or 5 atm pressure of ethylene and a 1500:1 Al:Ni molar ratio for C1 and C2 resulted in high catalytic activities toward ethylene polymerization. Upon activation with MAO and Et₂AlCl, C1 exhibited promising activities toward ethylene polymerization and produced linear chain structures that were associated with high density polyethylene. In contrast, C2 produced a polymer with the branching nature of low density polyethylene under similar conditions. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry     

An approach for complete molecular weight distribution calculation: Application in ethylene coordination polymerization

The objective of this article is to present an approach to ascertain the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polymeric systems and its application to an industrial polyethylene reactor. Ascertaining the complete MWD can provide more reliable predictions of polymer end‐use properties, as some of them may depend on specific molecular weight ranges, instead of solely on the averages of the distribution. The proposed method is based on differentiation of the cumulative MWD, where the accumulated concentrations, evaluated at a finite number of chain lengths, are considered components in a reaction medium. Therefore, the dimension of the mathematical model may be suited to the desired level of detail on the MWD. The ethylene polymerization in solution with Ziegler–Natta catalyst is taken as a case study because of the lack of studies in this field. The reaction takes place in continuously stirred and tubular reactors. The results show the potential of the proposed approach and its usefulness in ascertaining the whole MWD, which in turn can be used to predict the polymer end‐use properties. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Branching and gelation in atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate

Bulk copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was initiated by methyl α‐bromophenylacetate (MBPA) and mediated by copper bromide (CuBr) ligated with 1,1,4,7,10,10‐hexamethyltriethylenetetramine (HMTETA). The atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of pure MMA yielded polymers with well controlled molecular weights and the homopolymerization was taken as a reference for the copolymerization analysis. The copolymerization experienced autoacceleration in rate due to a diffusion‐controlled radical deactivation. The onset of autoacceleration came earlier with an increase in the EGDMA fraction. At low EGDMA fractions, the molecular weight versus conversion data deviated from linearity due to branching. The ratio of the copolymer molecular weight over homo‐poly(methyl methacrylate) gave an estimate for the branching density, which increased initially and leveled off at high conversion. At high EGDMA fractions, the ATRP system experienced gelation. The pregel branching density increased with conversion, and at the gel point, it agreed with Flory's gelation theory assuming cross‐linking free of cyclization. The branching densities at the high gel fractions were very close to the maximum values possibly achieved with the added EGDMA fractions. These results suggested that the ATRP system was very effective in preparing homogeneous polymer networks with a high cross‐linking efficiency. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 45:720–727, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers