Premium
Quantification of Polymer Fouling on Heat Transfer Surfaces During Synthesis
Author(s) -
Hohlen Annika,
Augustin Wolfgang,
Scholl Stephan
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.201900035
Subject(s) - fouling , vinyl acetate , chemical engineering , polymer , materials science , polymerization , copolymer , polymer chemistry , layer (electronics) , chemistry , composite material , membrane , biochemistry , engineering
During the synthesis and processing of polymers, a significant amount of polymer may be deposited on the heat transfer surfaces. This deposit is unwanted and is usually named fouling. This study deals with the fouling behavior of a vinyl acetate/vinyl ester copolymer during emulsion polymerization and compares this to fouling of an already reacted vinyl acetate/ethylene copolymer dispersion. Besides the state of polymerization, also the influence of the wall temperature is investigated. The experiments are performed on cooled and heated surfaces. The deposition process is quantified by the mass‐based fouling resistance, the height of the fouling layer, and the surface coverage using a digital microscope. It is found that the state of polymerization and the temperature gradient between wall and bulk exert a strong influence on the fouling behavior, especially on the structure of the fouling layer.