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Polymerization of melamine and formaldehyde in homogeneous continuous‐flow stirred‐tank reactors using functional group approach: Part A: Conversion of functional groups
Author(s) -
Kumar Anil
Publication year - 1987
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.1987.070340404
Subject(s) - polymerization , branching (polymer chemistry) , formaldehyde , polymer chemistry , polymer , chemistry , yield (engineering) , thermodynamics , materials science , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , engineering
A comprehensive kinetic model using the functional group approach has been proposed for the polymerization of melamine and formaldehyde. The kinetic model is consistent with the basic chemistry of polymerization and involves five rate constants which have been estimated using the experimental data of Tomita. Homogeneous continuous‐flow stirred‐tank reactors (HCSTRs) have been modelled and the mole balance relations for various functional groups have been written. The performance of HCSTRs is governed by algebraic equations and, for any specified residence time, is found by the method of successive substitution using the Brown's algorithm. The computations show that as long as free formaldehyde is present, the reaction mass would consist predominantly of substituted melamine molecules. However, after formaldehyde is completely reacted, larger oligomers are formed in larger concentrations. On comparison of results with batch reactors, it is found that for the same reaction time HCSTRs yield polymer with higher branching.