PHASE INVERSION PREDICTION DURING THE BULK SYNTHESIS OF HIGH-IMPACT POLYSTYRENE: A POPULATION BALANCE APPROACH

MAFFI, J. M.; ESTENOZ, D.

Lyon

Congreso; International Conference on Population Balance Modelling; 2022

In this work, the phase inversion mechanism is tested by means of a population balance model, coupled with a heterogeneous polymerization module. This model reproduces the particle size distribution (PSD) of the vitreous dispersed phase along the reaction, whose main parameters (conversion, polymer molecular weights and grafting efficiency) are obtained with a model similar to Casis et al. 2006). It computes the growth, coalescence and breakage rates of each particle according to models available in literature. Predicted PSDs are compared to those measured by transmission electron micrography (TEM) images obtained in a previous study, varying different reaction conditions: initiator concentration, temperature and stirring speed.