Automatic, simultaneous control of polymer composition and molecular weight during free radical copolymer synthesis

POLYMER

卷:136

Article

McAfee, Terry¹  Montgomery, Rick D.²  Zekoski, Thomas¹  Wu, Aide¹  Reed, Wayne F.¹ 

[1] Tulane Univ, New Orleans, LA 70118 USA

[2] Fluence Analyt, 1078 S Gayoso St, New Orleans, LA 70125 USA

关键词: Automatic polymerization reaction control;    Free radical copolymerization;    Light scattering;    Copolymer composition control;    Simultaneous molecular weight;    Composition control;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.polymer.2017.12.005

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Fully automatic, simultaneous control of polymer composition and molecular weight trajectories during free radical copolymer synthesis was achieved by coupling the continuous ACOMP data stream into a feedback controller which operated pumps for reactor feed of comonomers. The controller operates without recourse to a detailed kinetic model or reactivity ratios. Rather, it uses the fact that instantaneous copolymer chain composition is related to the instantaneous rate of consumption of comonomers, and the rate for each of these is described by rates alpha(1) and alpha(2) for comonomers 1 and 2, respectively. The instantaneous weight average molecular weight M-w,M-inst is proportional to total comonomer concentration via a constant p. Hence, target trajectories for composition and M-w can be independently prescribed and followed. Since alpha(1), alpha(2) and p are directly measurable from the ACOMP data stream, their values can be constantly updated by the automatic controller during the reaction process to insure the target trajectories are followed. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

【 授权许可】

Free