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Modeling the Dynamics of the Xylene Soluble Fraction (XS) in a Bulk Propylene Polymerization Process
Author(s) -
Machado Fabricio,
Pinto José Carlos
Publication year - 2011
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.201000038
Subject(s) - polymerization , mole fraction , dynamics (music) , materials science , fraction (chemistry) , propane , polymer chemistry , process (computing) , chemistry , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , polymer , organic chemistry , computer science , composite material , physics , acoustics , engineering , operating system
A model is built to describe the dynamic trajectories of the xylene soluble fraction (XS) in an industrial bulk propylene polymerization process. Emphasis is given to the coupling between the XS dynamics and the reactor liquid bleed policy. It is shown that cocatalyst recirculation can affect the dynamics of the cocatalyst/donor ratio and consequently the dynamics of XS during polymerization. Simulation results indicate that the effect of the reactor liquid bleed operation and of the cocatalyst/donor ratio upon the XS trajectories can be minimized if PI controllers are designed to control the propane concentration and to increase the speed of the cocatalyst/donor transitions. Finally, it is shown that the model is able to reproduce the dynamic XS profile obtained during a large XS transition at plant site.