Continuous production of polystyrene in a tubular reactor: Part I

An experimental analysis of the bulk polymerization of styrene initiated by azobisisobutyronitrile was carried out in a tubular reactor. The experiments performed in a 2.362‐cm I.D., 6‐meter long jacketed reactor showed that: (1) it was feasible for a tubular reactor to produce acceptable quality polystyrene for industrial purposes; (2) the quality of the polymer product was reproducible at any time; (3) it was technically feasible for the tubular reactor to replace the stirred‐batch kettles as the preliminary stage in the polystyrene manufacturing process, and (4) radial temperature gradients were not a problem for reactor operation.