Comparison of Performance of Two Industrial Processes for Production of Different Grades of Polystyrene

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Polymer and Petrochemical Institute

Abstract

In this study, the steady-state simulation and optimization of two continuous bulk styrene polymerization processes have been developed to compare the performance of industrial processes. The first process consists of two continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR), followed by a tubular reactor. The tubular reactor has been subdivided into six temperature-control zones. The second process consists of an auto-refrigerated stirred tank, followed by a tubular reactor. The tubular reactor of this process has been subdivided into three temperature-control jacket zones. Similar kinetic mechanism and assumptions were used to simulate both processes. The models can predict monomer conversion, number-and weight-average molecular weights, polydispersity index, and temperature at the output of reactors for each process. The genetic algorithm (GA) is used for the maximization of the monomer conversion, the minimization of the final polydispersity index in the product, and to control the number average molecular weight in the range of the common commercial grade. Simulation and optimization results show that the first process is able to produce just one grade of polystyrene while the second one can produce different grades of polystyrene.

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References

مراجع
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Journal of Petroleum Research
Volume 22, Issue 69 - Serial Number 69
May and June 2012
Pages 17-32

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