Scheduling the Production of a Portfolio of Emulsion Polymers in a Single CSTR

Abstract

The production of a portfolio of waterborne adhesives in a single continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) was investigated seeking the sequence and the conditions in which the transition product formed in each grade transition had a minimum effect on the adhesive properties of each grade. This information could be gathered by performing a series of grade transitions in the CSTR. However, this approach would be time-consuming and would have a factorial increase with the number of polymer grades. Therefore, in this work, polymer blends were used to evaluate how the adhesive performance of each polymer was affected by the presence of a different polymer grade. On the basis of that information, a production schedule was proposed with the aim of maintaining an in-specification production. The production schedule was then evaluated by means of grade transitions performed in a CSTR. It was found that, by using short residence times and by following the right production schedule, it was possible to maintain the quality of each polymer grade.