Devolatilization of high viscous fluids with high gravity technology

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are generally toxic and harmful substances that can cause health and environmental problems. The removal of VOCs from polymers has become a key problem. The effective devolatilization to remove VOCs from high viscous fluids such as polymer is necessary and is of great importance. In this study, the devolatilization effect of a rotating packed bed (RPB) was studied by using polydimethylsiloxane as the viscous fluid and acetone as the VOC. The devolatilization rate and liquid phase volume (KLa) have been evaluated. The results indicated that the optimum conditions were the high-gravity factor of 60, liquid flow rate of 10 L·h−1, and vacuum degree of 0.077 MPa. The dimensionless correlation of KLa was established, and the deviations between predicted and experimental values were less than ±28%. The high-gravity technology will result in lower mass transfer resistance in the devolatilization process, enhance the mass transfer process of acetone, and improve the removal effect of acetone. This work provides a promising path for the removal of volatiles from polymers in combination with high-gravity technology. It can provide the basis for the application of RPB in viscous fluids.