Polymerization Reactor Modeling in Industry

This paper provides an industrial perspective for the development of polymer reaction engineering models and their application to create new materials, products, and improved or novel processes. The challenges specific to polymer reactor modeling are discussed in the context of articles and books that the authors have found useful. Four components of a polymer reactor model (kinetics, thermodynamics, transport effects, and particle dynamics) are discussed with illustrative examples. Finally typical outputs of polymer reactor models are shown to demonstrate that a first principles model supported and validated by experiments can be a very powerful tool for fundamental understanding of polymer reactors and is a recommended alternative to empirical methods and experimentation alone. magnified image