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Continuous Soluble Ziegler‐Natta Ethylene Polymerizations in Reactor Trains, 2 – Estimation of Kinetic Parameters from Industrial Data
Author(s) -
Embiruçu Marcelo,
Prata Diego Martinez,
Lima Enrique Luis,
Pinto José Carlos
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular reaction engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1862-8338
pISSN - 1862-832X
DOI - 10.1002/mren.200700046
Subject(s) - natta , process (computing) , nonlinear system , ethylene , computer science , experimental data , estimation theory , kinetic energy , polymerization , estimation , process engineering , catalysis , biological system , materials science , chemistry , mathematics , algorithm , engineering , organic chemistry , statistics , polymer , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , operating system , systems engineering , composite material
We show that it is possible to estimate kinetic parameters for complex mechanistic polymerization models from available industrial data. A methodology is developed for efficient handling and reconciliation of industrial data and is then applied to allow estimation of kinetic parameters for industrial ethylene polymerizations performed in reactor trains using soluble Ziegler‐Natta catalysts. The parameter estimation procedure is formulated as a nonlinear optimization procedure subject to hard and soft model and process constraints. Parameter estimates obtained for the catalyst system allow a very good description of actual industrial data used during the estimation process and also allow very good prediction of process performance when completely new operating conditions are considered. It is concluded that complex phenomenological models can be successfully fitted to actual industrial processes without the need to carry out extensive experimental tests in the laboratory.