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Mathematical model of a continuous industrial high‐impact polystyrene process
Author(s) -
Estenoz Diana A.,
Meira Gregorio R.,
Gómez Neidi,
Oliva Haydée M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690440219
Subject(s) - polystyrene , styrene , polymer , process (computing) , materials science , measure (data warehouse) , monomer , grafting , process engineering , polymer chemistry , thermodynamics , composite material , computer science , copolymer , physics , engineering , operating system , database
An industrial bulk process for the continuous production of high‐impact polystyrene (HIPS) is mathematically modeled, and the model is validated with actual plant data. The steady states of two commercial HIPS grades were investigated. Polymer samples were taken along the process to measure monomer conversion, styrene (St) grafting efficiency, and free PS molecular weights. The model adequately reproduces the experimental measurements, and it also estimates the molecular macrostructure of the evolving reaction mixture.