TRANSESTERIFICATION OF ETHYLENE ACETATE COPOLYMER IN A TWIN-SCREW EXTRUDER - EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES

The chemical modification of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) with a pr imary aliphatic n-alcohol in a modular co-rotating twin screw extruder was investigated The purpose was to build a theoretical model, able t o predict the extent of conversion along the screw axis. First, the in fluence of operating conditions (throughput, screw speed, barrel tempe rature and initial reactant concentrations) on the EVA copolymer conve rsion was experimentally examined. Then, the extent of conversion was computed by coupling flow simulation and reaction kinetics. Theoretica l and experimental results were found in good agreement, what allows t he prediction of the reaction extent as a function of the processing c onditions.