Drop mixing in suspension polymerisation

Abstract

In suspension polymerisation, monomer is suspended as liquid droplets in a continuous water phase by means of strong agitation and the presence of a suspending agent. As the suspension polymerisation proceeds, the viscosity of a monomer–polymer droplet increases with conversion. Hence, the physical behaviour of the droplet changes during the process. When new dispersible material is added to the existing suspension drops, the new material and existing drops can remain segregated for significant amounts of time. The aim of this project was to study the behaviour of drop mixing when new material is added to the existing suspension polymerisation. This study concentrated on the effect of the dispersed phase viscosity on drop mixing. The results show that viscosity affects drop size and that may then affect the rate of coalescence between drops. A critical drop size exists which determines the coalescence efficiency effect. Above the critical drop size, mixing rate increases as the drop viscosity decreases. While below the critical drop size, drop size of the dispersion determines the coalescence rate; as the drop size increases, coalescence rate also increases. The investigation of the effect of suspending agent shows that Tween 20 is more efficient in stabilising and protecting the drops, based on a weight basis, than PVA as the coalescence rate is lower with Tween 20.