Methyl methacrylate batch polymerization

Besides two-component LIPNs, three-component LIPNs have also been studied through three-stage emulsion polymerization processes (Zhang et al. 1991, 1994 Isao et al. 1992). These authors synthesized poly(n-butyl acrylate) cross-linked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the seed latex. Styrene and divinylbenzene were added at the second stage. The third stage was linear poly(methyl methacrylate). Starved polymerization conditions resulted in more regular-shaped latex particles than batch addition of monomer. 

This paper presents the physical mechanism and the structure of a comprehensive dynamic Emulsion Polymerization Model (EPM). EPM combines the theory of coagulative nucleation of homogeneously nucleated precursors with detailed species material and energy balances to calculate the time evolution of the concentration, size, and colloidal characteristics of latex particles, the monomer conversions, the copolymer composition, and molecular weight in an emulsion system. The capabilities of EPM are demonstrated by comparisons of its predictions with experimental data from the literature covering styrene and styrene/methyl methacrylate polymerizations. EPM can successfully simulate continuous and batch reactors over a wide range of initiator and added surfactant concentrations. 

In this work, a comprehensive kinetic model, suitable for simulation of inilticomponent aiulsion polymerization reactors, is presented A well-mixed, isothermal, batch reactor is considered with illustrative purposes. Typical model outputs are PSD, monomer conversion, multivariate distritution of the i lymer particles in terms of numtoer and type of contained active Chains, and pwlymer ccmposition. Model predictions are compared with experimental data for the ternary system acrylonitrile-styrene-methyl methacrylate. 

Bulk Polymerization. This involves only monomer, initiator, and perhaps chain-transfer agent. It gives the greatest polymer yield per unit of reactor volume and a very pure polymer. However, in large-scale batch form, it must be run slowly or in continuous form with a lot of heat-transfer area per unit of conversion to avoid mnaway. Objects are conveniendy cast to shape using batch bulk polymerization. Poly(methyl methacrylate) glazing sheets are produced by batch bulk polymerization between glass plates. They are also made by continuous bulk polymerization between polished stainless steel... 

Four polymerization examples are presented here to illustrate both available sensitivity, experimental difficulties, and hopefully some interesting aspects of the polymerization processes. The first two examples are the semi-continuous emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene, respectively. The third example is a batch charged copolymerization of butyl acrylate (BA) with MMA. The fourth example is a semi-continuous solution polymerization of an acrylic system. In this last example aliquots were taken manually and analyzed at 29.7°C under static conditions. No further polymerization occurred after the samples were cooled to this temperature. 

The available data from emulsion polymerization systems have been obtained almost exclusively through manual, off-line analysis of monomer conversion, emulsifier concentration, particle size, molecular weight, etc. For batch systems this results in a large expenditure of time in order to sample with sufficient frequency to accurately observe the system kinetics. In continuous systems a large number of samples are required to observe interesting system dynamics such as multiple steady states or limit cycles. In addition, feedback control of any process variable other than temperature or pressure is impossible without specialized on-line sensors. This note describes the initial stages of development of two such sensors, (one for the monitoring of reactor conversion and the other for the continuous measurement of surface tension), and their implementation as part of a computer data acquisition system for the emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate. 

Chain addition polymerizations have a typical value of e 4 x 10-2, and for such batch reactions re increase 106 times from 0 = 10 1 to 0 = 10, with the plateau region at 0 values that are 1010 times higher. It is for this reason that chain addition polymerization reactions, although experimentally studied, as with methyl methacrylate (41,42), are rarely carried out in reactive polymer processing equipment. 

Polymerizable surfactants capable of working as transfer agents include thiosulfonates, thioalkoxylates and methyl methacrylate dimer/trimer surfactants. Thioalkoxylates with 17-90 ethylene oxide units were produced from ethoxylated 11 bromo-undecanol by replacing the bromine with a thiol group via the thiazonium salt route [8]. In the presence of water-soluble azo initiator the thio ended Transurfs (used at a concentration above the CMC) gave monodispersed latex particles in emulsion polymerization of styrene. However, the incorporation of the Transurf remained low, irrespective of the process used for the polymerization (batch, semibatch, seeded). The stability of the lattices when the surfactant and the transfer function were incorporated in the same molecule was better than when they were decoupled. 

To synthesize water-soluble or swellable copolymers, inverse heterophase polymerization processes are of special interest. The inverse macroemulsion polymerization is only reported for the copolymerization of two hydrophilic monomers. Hernandez-Barajas and Hunkeler [62] investigated the copolymerization of AAm with quaternary ammonium cationic monomers in the presence of block copoly-meric surfactants by batch and semi-batch inverse emulsion copolymerization. Glukhikh et al. [63] reported the copolymerization of AAm and methacrylic acid using an inverse emulsion system. Amphiphilic copolymers from inverse systems are also successfully obtained in microemulsion polymerization. For example, Vaskova et al. [64-66] copolymerized the hydrophilic AAm with more hydrophobic methyl methacrylate (MMA) or styrene in a water-in-oil microemulsion initiated by radical initiators with different solubilities in water. However, not only copolymer, but also homopolymer was formed. The total conversion of MMA was rather limited (<10%) and the composition of the copolymer was almost independent of the comonomer ratio. This was probably due to a constant molar ratio of the monomers in the water phase or at the interface as the possible locus of polymerization. Also, in the case of styrene copolymerizing with AAm, the molar fraction of AAm in homopolymer compared to copolymer is about 45-55 wt% [67], which is still too high for a meaningful technical application. 

Although theoretical models seem to be quite adequate for styrene emulsion polymerization in either batch reactors or CSTR s, such is not the case with other monomers like vinyl acetate, methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, vinyl chloride, etc. One of the early papers to discuss scane of the important mechanisms involved with these other moncaners was written by Priest ( ). He studied the emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate and identified most of the key mechanisms involved. Priest s paper has been largely overlooked, however, perhaps because of the success of the Smith-Ewart approach to styrene. 

Bhat, S. A. (2007). On-line optimizing control of bulk free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in a batch reactor using virtual instrumentation, Ph.D. Thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 146 pages. 

The major limitations to the use of ESR other than for fundamental studies of the radical and other trapped species formed during reactive processing are the experimental requirements of the apparatus. There has been success in using ESR to monitor the concentration of the propagating free radicals during the emulsion batch polymerization of methyl methacrylate (Parker et al, 1996) by using a time-sweep method for data acquisition and... 

Controlled anionic polymerization of alkyl methacrylates initiated by 1,1-diphenyUiexyllithium using a flow microreactor gives the corresponding poly (aUcyl methacrylate)s with high level of control of molecular weight under easily accessible temperatures compared with conventional batch macropolymerization, e.g., —28°C for methyl methacrylate (MMA) (MJMn = 1.16), 0°C for butyl methacrylate (BuMA) MJM = 1.24), and 24°C for tert-butyl methacrylate (f-BuMA) (Mw/Mn = 1.12). Precise control of the reaction temperature and fast mixing of a monomer and an initiator seem to be responsible (Fig. 16) [161]. 

The polyacrylate used by Sim et al., (2011) is a thermoplastic acrylic copolymer synthesized (Gan, 2005) by free-radical polymerization of six monomer units added in semi batches to the reactor, as described in detail by Zhou et al., (2004). Schematic representation of the chemical stmcture of PAc showing part of the random distribution of the six monomer units viz. styrene, methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), AA, 2-hydroxy ethylacrylate (2HEA), and isobutyl methacrylate (iBMA) in the backbone of the copolymer is shown in Figure 13 (Sim et al., 2009). The alphabets a-f denote mole fraction of 0.16, 0.17,0.39,0.19,0.06, and 0.03, respectively of each monomer unit in the copolymer. Figure 14 displays the difference in the results between a miscible and an immiscible blend systems. 

Another convenient and effective scheme for the approximate solution of a mathematical description of the polymerization reaction replaces the discrete variable of infinite range, polymer chain length, by a continuous variable. The difference-differential equations become partial differential equations. Barn-ford and coworkers [16,27,28] used this procedure in their analysis of vinyl (radical chain growth) polymerization. Zeman and Amundson [18,19] used it extensively to study batch and continuous polymerizations. Recently, Coyle et al. [4] have applied it to analysis of high conversion free radical polymerizations while Taylor et al. [3] used it in their modelling efforts oriented to control of high conversion polymerization of methyl methacrylate. A rather extensive review of the numerical techniques and approximations has been presented by Amundson and Luss [29] and later by Tirrell et al. [30]. 

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