Polymer Tanks

The design and construction of atmospheric storage tanks for the petroleum industry are covered by the American Petroleum Industry standards API 650 (2003) and 620 (2002). Other standards are also used internationally, for example, British Standard BS 2654 and European Standard EN13121 for glass-reinforced polymer tanks. The design of storage tanks is covered in the books by Myers (1997) and Jawad and Earr (1989). See also the papers by Debham et al. (1968) and Zick and McGrath (1968). 

There is no great need to measure levels in the plant, but merely to have an indication of whether a tank or hopper is empty, full, or in between. This is achieved by conductivity, or sonic, probes. They are fitted to the two polymer tanks, to initiate a new batch make-up, and to actuate transfer before the polymer supply tank empties. Probes could be employed in the polymer powder hopper to guard against running out during operation. Smaller plants will not use powder probes, and rely on a system using several days supply. 

For tank batches of diluted polymers, tank mixer speeds of more than 350 rpm should not be used. In the preparation of diluted batches of polymer, water should always be added to the tank first. Then, the mixer should be started and the polymer added on top of the water. 

Polymer is separated from the polymerisation slurry and slurried with acetic anhydride and sodium acetate catalyst. Acetylation of polymer end groups is carried out in a series of stirred tank reactors at temperatures up to 140°C. End-capped polymer is separated by filtration and washed at least twice, once with acetone and then with water. Polymer is made ready for extmsion compounding and other finishing steps by drying in a steam-tube drier. 

Polyacrylamide powders are typically shipped in moisture-resistant bags or fiber packs. Emulsion and solution polymers are sold in dmms, tote bins, tank tmcks, and tank cars. The transportation of dry and solution products is not regulated in the United States by the Department of Transportation, but emulsions require a DOT NA 1693 label. 

Solution Filtration. The polymer solution, free of unacetylated ceUulose, rigid particle contaminants, and dirt, must pass through spinnerets with holes of 30—80 ]lni diameter. Multistage filtration, usuaUy through plate-and-frame filter presses with fabric and paper filter media, removes the extraneous matter before extmsion. Undesirable gelatinous particles, such as the hemiceUulose acetates from ceUulose impurities, tend to be sheared into smaller particles rather than removed. The solution is also aUowed to degas in hoi ding tanks after each state of filtration. 

The fluoroelastomers possess good mbber properties with the added advantages of being nonburning, hydrophobic, and solvent- and fuel-resistant. In addition to these, because of flexibiHty down to about —60° C, these polymers have been used in seals, gaskets, and hoses in army tanks, in aviation fuel lines and tanks, as well as in cold-climate oil pipeline appHcations. These polymers have also found appHcation in various types of shock mounts for vibration dampening (14,17). 

A schematic diagram of the polymer precipitation process is shown in Figure 8. The hot polymer solution is cast onto a water-cooled chill roU, which cools the solution, causing the polymer to precipitate. The precipitated film is passed through an extraction tank containing methanol, ethanol or 2-propanol to remove the solvent. Finally, the membrane is dried, sent to a laser inspection station, trimmed, and roUed up. The process shown in Figure 8... 

HoUow-fiber fabrication methods can be divided into two classes (61). The most common is solution spinning, in which a 20—30% polymer solution is extmded and precipitated into a bath of a nonsolvent, generally water. Solution spinning allows fibers with the asymmetric Loeb-Soufirajan stmcture to be made. An alternative technique is melt spinning, in which a hot polymer melt is extmded from an appropriate die and is then cooled and sohdified in air or a quench tank. Melt-spun fibers are usually relatively dense and have lower fluxes than solution-spun fibers, but because the fiber can be stretched after it leaves the die, very fine fibers can be made. Melt spinning can also be used with polymers such as poly(trimethylpentene), which are not soluble in convenient solvents and are difficult to form by wet spinning. 

Some slurry processes use continuous stirred tank reactors and relatively heavy solvents (57) these ate employed by such companies as Hoechst, Montedison, Mitsubishi, Dow, and Nissan. In the Hoechst process (Eig. 4), hexane is used as the diluent. Reactors usually operate at 80—90°C and a total pressure of 1—3 MPa (10—30 psi). The solvent, ethylene, catalyst components, and hydrogen are all continuously fed into the reactor. The residence time of catalyst particles in the reactor is two to three hours. The polymer slurry may be transferred into a smaller reactor for post-polymerization. In most cases, molecular weight of polymer is controlled by the addition of hydrogen to both reactors. After the slurry exits the second reactor, the total charge is separated by a centrifuge into a Hquid stream and soHd polymer. The solvent is then steam-stripped from wet polymer, purified, and returned to the main reactor the wet polymer is dried and pelletized. Variations of this process are widely used throughout the world. 

An independent development of a high pressure polymerization technology has led to the use of molten polymer as a medium for catalytic ethylene polymerization. Some reactors previously used for free-radical ethylene polymerization at a high pressure (see Olefin polymers, low density polyethylene) have been converted to accommodate catalytic polymerization, both stirred-tank and tubular autoclaves operating at 30—200 MPa (4,500—30,000 psig) and 170—350°C (57,83,84). CdF Chimie uses a three-zone high pressure autoclave at zone temperatures of 215, 250, and 260°C (85). Residence times in all these reactors are short, typically less than one minute. 

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