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The bifurcation behavior of continuous free-radical solution loop polymerization reactors

2003; Elsevier BV; Volume: 58; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0009-2509(03)00132-5

1873-4405

Prı́amo A. Melo, Evaristo C. Biscaia, José Carlos Pinto,

Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures

The bifurcation behavior of continuous free-radical solution loop polymerization reactors is analyzed in this work. A mathematical model is developed in order to describe the impact of the recycling pump and other external reactor parts upon the process dynamics and stability. Stability analysis is performed using bifurcation theory and continuation methods. It is shown that under certain operational conditions as many as seven steady states are predicted for the loop polymerization reactor. Oscillatory behavior is observed for a wide range of process parameters and onset of oscillations is observed during the transition from operation without material recycling to operation with partial recirculation of the polymer solution. Besides, at certain constrained range of operation conditions, complex dynamics can be observed, including the onset of chaotic behavior. It is also shown that the thermal parameters of the reactor and recycling pump exert a profound effect upon the process stability. For this reason it is shown that oscillatory behavior is very unlikely to occur in actual industrial reactors.