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Applied Thermodynamics for Process Modeling in Catalytic Gas Phase Olefin Polymerization Reactors
Author(s) -
Bashir Muhammad Ahsan,
Kanellopoulos Vasileios,
Alhaj Ali Mohammad,
McKenna Timothy F.L.
Publication year - 2020
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.201900029
Subject(s) - linear low density polyethylene , polyethylene , penetrant (biochemical) , thermodynamics , materials science , polymer , polymerization , solubility , ternary operation , polymer chemistry , olefin polymerization , high density polyethylene , chemical engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , computer science , engineering , programming language
The Sanchez–Lacombe Equation of State (SL EoS) is used to model the solubility of different industrial alkane penetrants in polyethylene to explain the importance of considering different diluents for different processes, and the impact that this choice can have on operating conditions, especially for the production of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). Extension of this approach to ternary (ethylene/penetrant/LLDPE) systems shows the effect of composition of penetrant/ethylene mixtures on the solubility of such mixtures in LLDPE and swelling of the polymer phase at conditions of industrial relevance. This analysis reveals that using a constant polymer density instead of that predicted by the SL EoS can result in erroneous calculations of the particle size distribution developments in an olefin polymerization reactor.