Prediction of Rheological Properties of LDPE Produced in High-Pressure Tubular Reactors

DIETRICH, MAIRA L; ASTEASUAIN, MARIANO; BRANDOLIN, ADRIANA; SARMORIA, CLAUDIA

Orlando

Congreso; 2019 AIChe Annual Meeting; 2019

American Institute of Chemical Engineers

This work presents a high-fidelity model of a high-pressure tubular reactor for the production of low-density polyethylene able to predict rheological properties of the polymer. A previous model developed by the authors,1 which calculated molecular properties such as the molecular weight distribution, the joint molecular weight-long chain branching distribution and molecular weight-short chain branching distribution, and average molecular properties, was updated to include the prediction of rheological properties such as the reptation modulus, the storage and loss moduli and the complex viscosity. The latter is used as input to compute the polymer melt index. The model allows analyzing the influence of operating conditions on molecular structure and on the rheology of the polymer melt. This knowledge allows producers to design the material molecular structure in order to meet a particular processing behavior.