Premium
Optimization of nonvaporizing nylon 6 reactors with stopping conditions
Author(s) -
Ray Ajay K.,
Gupta Santosh K.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1985.070301203
Subject(s) - a priori and a posteriori , product (mathematics) , residence time (fluid dynamics) , polymerization , monomer , nylon 6 , plug flow , mathematics , plug flow reactor model , flow (mathematics) , thermodynamics , polymer , materials science , chemistry , physics , continuous stirred tank reactor , organic chemistry , engineering , philosophy , geometry , geotechnical engineering , epistemology
In this study, optimal temperature profiles or histories T ( t ) are obtained for nonvaporizing plug‐flow or batch Nylon 6 reactors using the minimum principle. Two objective functions are studied, one in which the monomer conversion is maximized, and the other in which the undesirable cyclic dimer concentration in the product stream is minimized. The control variable, temperature, is constrained to lie between 220 and 270°C in order to ensure single‐phase polymerization. The most significant difference between this study and earlier ones is that the residence or reaction time t f is not specified a priori, but is determined optimally by the use of a “stopping” condition such that the polymer product has a number‐average chain length μ, equal to some desired value μ n,d . This makes the algorithm considerably more complex, but the results are more meaningful. Qualitatively different optimal temperature profiles are obtained for the two objective functions studied, representing the complex interplay of several opposing factors in determining optimal conditions. This study also lays the foundation for even more complex, but relevant, optimization studies.