Impingement injection mixing

Because the highest possible interfacial area is desired for the heterogeneous reaction mixture, advances have also been made in the techniques used for mixing the two reaction phases. Several jet impingement reactors have been developed that are especially suited for nitration reactions (14). The process boosts reaction rates and yields. It also reduces the formation of by-products such as mono-, di-, and trinitrophenol by 50%. First Chemical (Pascagoula, Mississippi) uses this process at its plant. Another technique is to atomize the reactant layers by pressure injection through an orifice nozzle into a reaction chamber (15). The technique uses pressures of typically 0.21—0.93 MPa (30—135 psi) and consistendy produces droplets less than 1 p.m in size. The process is economical to build and operate, is safe, and leads to a substantially pure product. 

The largest segment of the CASE family of polyurethanes are elastomers. Cast polyurethane elastomers reached a new dimension when high pressure impingement mixing led to reaction injection molding (RIM). This technology is used widely in the automotive industry, and reinforced versions (RRIM) and stmctural molded parts (SRIM) have been added in more recent years. 

The RIM process involves the high-pressure impingement mixing of two or more reactive liquid components and injection of the mixture into a closed mold at low pressures. Large and thick products can be molded using fast cycles with relatively low-cost materials. Its low energy requirements with relatively low investment costs make RIM attractive (9). 

Impingement mixing, 200 Implants, bioresorbable, 27 Indentation force deflection (IFD) test, 244 Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, 91, 162, 300, 490. See also Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry Ingold s classification, 60-61 Inherent viscosity, 161-162 Injection molding, of polyamides, 136,... 

Reaction injection molding (RIM) is a fast, low-pressure, low-temperature, low-cost process for one-step conversion of reactive liquids into large finished solid plastic products. Liquid polyol and liquid diisocyanate are mixed by impingement, pumped instantly to fill a large mold cavity, and polymerize/ cure rapidly to form a thermoset polyurethane product. The cured polymer may be a stiffly flexible product such as automotive bumper covers, front ends, and trim or a rigid foamed product such as furniture and housings (cabinets) for computers, business machines, TY and radio. 

This high-pressure impingement mixing delivery of two or more liquid urethane components to a very small mixing chamber that continuously mixes and injects into a closed mold delivers at rates approaching 650 lb/min. The liquid components are heated to maintain low viscosities. 

It is different to reaction injection molding (RIM) where it uses a mechanical mixing rather than a high-pressure impingement mixer (Figures. 11.1 and 11.2). The entire shot is mixed in a chamber before injection into the mold, rather than being continuously mixed and injected, as in the RIM process. LIM is used to mold smaller parts that are below the desired capacity of RIM. LIM also allows higher-viscosity materials to be processed. 

From these correlations it would be natural to expect that the maximum blowoff velocity as a function of air-fuel ratio would occur at the stoichiometric mixture ratio. For premixed gaseous fuel-air systems, the maxima do occur at this mixture ratio, as shown in Fig. 56. However, in real systems liquid fuels are injected upstream of the bluff-body flame holder in order to allow for mixing. Results [60] for such liquid injection systems show that the maximum blowoff velocity is obtained on the fuel-lean side of stoichiometric. This trend is readily explained by the fact that liquid droplets impinge on the stabilizer and enrich the wake. Thus, a stoichiometric wake undoubtedly occurs for a lean upstream liquid-fuel injection system. That the wake can be modifled to alter blowoff characteristics was proved experimentally by Fetting et al. [65]. The trends of these experiments can be explained by the correlations developed in this section. 

For our purposes, reaction injection molding is defined as a process in which two or more reactive streams are combined and mixed with an impingement mixing device and injected into a closed mold where they polymerize to rapidly form a plastic part. To compensate for polymerization shrinkage, RIM parts are foamed to some degree. 

In many instances, one wishes to produce solid parts so as to maximize the toughness of the product. In some cases, the economics of the busines will not permit the high cost and process sophistication of reaction injection molding equipment. Low-pressure casting is then the process of choice. Casting machine prices are usually 20 to 50% of those of RIM machines. They are typically smaller and simpler machines. They use static or dynamic mixers rather than impingement mix heads. 

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