Polyacrylamides commercial production

Until 1990 the EPA maintained a list of chemicals suitable for potable water treatment in the United States. Since then the entire question of certification and standards has been turned over to a group of organizations headed by the National Sanilalion Foundation, which has issued voluntary standards. As of January 1992. standards had been issued for most of the principal inorganic products, hut only for three polymers, polytDADMAC). Epi-DMA (epichlorohydrindimethylamine) polymers and polyacrylamide. Certifications for commercial products meeting specified standards are issued by Ihe National Sanitation Foundation. Underwriter Laboratories, and Sab Water Addilives Institute (SWAI),... 

The first commercial production of L-aspartic acid was started in 1973 by the Tanaba Seiyaku Company, Japan. The process uses aspartase contained in whole microorganisms and involves the immobilization of E. coli on polyacrylamide gel or carrageenan. The immobilized cells are then subjected to treatment in order to increase cell permeability. The substrate, fumaric acid, is dissolved in a 25 % ammonia solution and the resulting ammonium fumarate is then passed through the reactor containing the immobilized E. coli. The reaction is exothermic and the reactor has to be designed to remove the heat produced. The conversion of fumaric acid to aspartic acid is more economical than the direct fermentation of sugars. The key to economical production of L-aspartic acid for expanded use is a cheaper and more abundant source of fumaric acid. 

An 18-20% hydrolyzed polyacrylamide was used in all tests. In all 300 ppm polymer solutions a radioactive C14 tagged polyacrylamide was used. At higher polymer concentrations (600 and 1200 ppm) a commercial product called Calgon Polymer 454 was added to the base 300 ppm radioactive solution. A special study was conducted to develop a radioactive polymer which has properties identical to the commercial product. Several experiments were run on both polymers to check these properties such as, viscosity measurements, friction reduction flow tests, and flow tests in porous media. These special studies showed that performance of the radioactive product was equivalent to that of the commercial product. A typical result of these tests is shown in Figure 1. The small differences in the polymer flow resistance factors are due to small differences in the textures of different sandpacks, rather than to differences in the chemical structures of the polymers. Friction reduction, viscosity, and retention experiments showed even closer agreements between properties of the radioactive and commercial product. 

Inverse (or water-in-oil) emulsions (315, 401) are emulsions in which an aqueous phase is dispersed within a continuous organic phase. This system is essentially the inverse of a conventional emulsion, hence the name inverse emulsion. The organic phase is typically an inert hydrocarbon (such as mixed xylenes or low-odour kerosenes), and the aqueous phase contains a water-soluble monomer such as acrylamide (268). The aqueous phase may be dispersed as discrete droplets or as a bicontinuous phase (335), depending upon the formulation and conditions of the inverse emulsion. The hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of the stabiliser determines the form and stability of an inverse emulsion, with HLB values of less than 7 being appropriate for inverse emulsions. Steric stabilisers such as the Span , Tween , and Plutonic series of nonionic surfactants are usually used in preparing inverse emulsions. Inverse emulsions, suspensions, miniemulsions (199), and microemulsions have been prepared, primarily as a function of the stabiliser concentration. Commercial products produced by inverse emulsion polymerisation include polyacrylamide, a water-soluble polymer used extensively as a thickener. 

Solution Polymorization. Commercial production of polyacrylamides by solution polymerization is conducted in aqueous solution, either adiabatically or isothermally. Process development is directed at molecular weight control, exotherm control, producing low levels of residual monomer, and control of the polymer sohds to ensure that the final product is fluid and pumpable. A generic example of a solution polymerization follows. 

Solution Polymerization. Plant scale polymerizations ia water are conducted either adiabaticaHy or isotherm ally. Molecular weight control, exotherm control, and reduction of residual monomer are factors which limit the types of initiators employed. Commercially available high molecular weight solution polyacrylamides are usually manufactured and sold at about 5% soHds so that the viscosities permit the final product to be pumped easily. 

Additions of new flocculants after conventional thickening produce further dewatering of mineral slimes. A clay flocculated with polyacrylamides and rotated in a dmm can produce a growth of compact kaolin pellets (84), which can easily be wet-screened and dewatered. A device called a Dehydmm, which flocculates and pelletizes thickened sludges into round, 3-mm pellets, was developed for this purpose. Several units reported in commercial operation in Japan thicken fine refuse from coal-preparation plants. The product contains 50% moisture, compared with 3% soflds fed into the Dehydmm from the thickener underflow (85). In Poland, commercial use of the process to treat coal fines has been reported (86), and is said to compare favorably both economically and technically to thickening and vacuum filtration. 

The three categories of major ingredients discussed above for the formulation of water-reducing admixtures account for the majority of commercially available products, but there may be limited use of insitol [28], polyacrylamide [29], polyacrylic acids [30] and polyglycerol [31]. 

KYPAM is the commercial name of a new Chinese product its meaning in English is salinity-tolerant polyacrylamide, and its English translation is comb-shape polyacrylamide. There are several sample products of this type in the laboratory. RSPl is used mainly in treating drilling fluids RSP2 is used mainly... 

Isoelectric focusing on polyacrylamide gels, freshly prepared, or on those stored in sealed bags obtained commercially, or on in house prepared, contain a number of char -acteristics that are undesirable, or even unknown A) Gel polymerization products remain in the gel. These consist of unpolymerized acrylamide monomers, linear poly -mers, breakdown products of acrylamide such as Nitrilotrispropionamide... 

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