Determination of Catalyst Residence Time, Heat Generation, and Monomer Conversion via Process Variables during Propylene Polymerization by a Mathematical Model

Abstract

Because of the inherent complexity of a Ziegler–Natta catalyst, its performance during propylene polymerization against the particular process variables, namely, the reaction temperature and hydrogen amounts, so far remains unclear. Obviously, these process variables directly affect the catalyst residence time, monomer conversion, and heat generation. Understanding these issues is essential for those working in the field such as catalyst chemists, polymer scientists, process engineers, designers, and producer licensors. The main aim of this work is to cover the existing gap in this field by proposing a mathematical kinetics model. The modeling approach is based on the polymer moment balance technique and validated via experimental data from a lab-scale reactor. The results of this study showed that the model has achieved the defined aims properly. Two significant conclusions were obtained. Firstly, only temperature increase has a significant effect on the conversion percent increase and hydrogen has no effect on it. Secondly, hydrogen not only increases the rate of polymerization, but also raises the deactivation constant and reduces the lifetime of the catalyst.