POLYMER REACTION-ENGINEERING - FROM REACTION-KINETICS TO POLYMER REACTOR CONTROL

Polymer reaction engineering is a relatively ''young'', very broad, mu ltidisciplinary, rapidly developing field. It is the combination of po lymer science, chemistry and technology with process engineering princ iples. The outcome of this high degree of synergism has evolved over t he last fifteen or so years towards an area that includes any or all o f the following: polymerization and post-polymerization (chemical modi fication) reaction kinetics; mathematical modelling and process simula tion; polymer reactor design and scale-up; sensor development and proc ess monitoring; and polymer reactor optimization, state estimation and computer control. This article will attempt to give an overview of th e results obtained in our laboratory over the last seven years from sy stematic studies of polymer reaction engineering and polymer productio n technology problems. These problems cover all aspects of polymer rea ction engineering mentioned above. Going from fundamentals to practice , the basic premise of the article is that only by adopting a holistic approach can one devise effective strategies in order to achieve the final objective of more efficient polymer reactor design and control, and hence improved production systems of polymeric materials.