Abstract
The present work describes a mathematical model based on a population balance approach for determining the effect of the reaction temperature and hydrogen amount on the vital final product properties including average molecular weight and polydispersity index and flow index of polypropylene and also the profile rate of the polymerization. The aim of this study was to find the best operating condition through a model which is validated by the experimental data. The software program was coded in MATLAB/SIMULINK . The model profile rates compared with the experimental results to show the accuracy of the model. In this study, it was concluded that increasing the reaction temperature until a certain limit is useful and improve some indices of the final product and after that rising the reaction temperature has a harmful effect on the indices. Exactly the same issue is true in the case of increasing the amount of hydrogen. KEY WORDS : Mathematical modeling, Propylene polymerization, Melt flow index, Population balance, Average molecular weight, hydrogen Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019 , 33(1), 169-182 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i1.17
Highlights
Polypropylene is one of the most valuable polyolefin products which having excellent physicalmechanical properties and relatively low prices
This study proposes a validated model to determine some crucial indices such as melt flow index (MFI); number and weight average molecular weight (Mw and Mn) as the best way
The aim of this study was to be established a validated model that it is able to predict the vital indices of final product properties such as number and weight average molecular weight (Mw and Mn) and flow index (MFI); and be able to determine the best process conditions of the polymerization recipe namely the reaction temperature and hydrogen amount in the polymerization system
Summary
Polypropylene is one of the most valuable polyolefin products which having excellent physicalmechanical properties and relatively low prices. The final product properties categorize its applications and highly depend on the kinetics of the reaction. The crucial indices of the final product properties are comprising of flow index (MFI); number and weight average molecular weight (Mw and Mn) which are classified the polymer applications. The average molecular weight is the most significant index, which must be precisely controlled. Weight average molecular weight depends strongly on the polymerization kinetics and the polymerization rate profiles (Rpt). For controlling the average molecular weight, it is necessary to find a clear image of the behavior of the polymerization system as a function of operating conditions such the reaction temperature and hydrogen amount in the polymerization system. Due to the complexity of the kinetics and a large number of polymerization reactions, only a validated mathematical model might approach us to the aim
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