Emulsion Copolymerization of Acrylonitrile and Butadiene in an Industrial Batch Reactor. Estimation of Conversion and Polymer Quality from On-Line Energy Measurements

GUGLIOTTA, L. M.; VEGA, J. R.; ANTONIONE, C. E.; MEIRA, G. R.

POLYMER REACTION ENGINEERING

Año: 1999 vol. 7 p. 531 - 552

1054-3414

A method for monitoring an industrial emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile and butadiene for the production of two NBR grades is presented. From an on-line calculation of the reaction heat (proportional to the mass flow rate of evaporated refrigerant), three open-loop estimators of increasing complexity were developed for monitoring conversion, copolymer composition, and average molecular weights. A good agreement between on-line estimates and off-line measurements was ohtained.