Polymer reactors and molecular weight distribution. Part V. Free‐radical polymerization in a transient stirred‐tank reactor train

The transient behavior of both batch and continuous stirred‐tank reactors for free‐radical polymerization of styrene have been studied. For the batch reactor a high‐conversion model was developed, based on experimental investigations measuring the conversion and molecular weight distribution. Significant improvement over the low‐conversion model was obtained when the viscosity or gel effect was accounted for by allowing the termination constant and catalyst efficiency to vary with viscosity. A transient model was also developed for a continuous stirredtank reactor based on batch reactor kinetics. This model was employed in the simulation of a system of stirred‐tank reactors operating under transient conditions.