Process Intensification in the Production of Specialty Waterborne Polymers

Summary: The feasibility of obtaining specialty waterborne adhesives in a CSTR was investigated facing the possibility of replacing the traditional semi‐batch reactors, which are commonly used in their production by a more efficient system. The key aspects focused on this work were the safety of the process, the kinetic feasibility, and the quality of the products, having as a reference the adhesive performance of the polymers produced in the semi‐batch reactors. Simulations showed that the production of 280 tons per week could be safely carried out even using mean residence times as short as 10 min. From a kinetic point of view, it was found that under these conditions, reasonable high conversions could be achieved in the reactor, resulting on a high production per unit volume of reactor. Furthermore, the adhesive properties of the latex were analyzed, and a much higher shear resistance was found for the latexes produced in the continuous reactor, while peel resistance and tack were found to be very similar disregarding the type of reactor used. Safe process conditions in a CSTR. magnified image Safe process conditions in a CSTR.