An integrated approach to polymer reaction engineering: A review of calorimetry and state estimation

In order to completely master a polymerisation process, it is necessary to take a pluri-disciplinary approach that incorporates the use of kinetic and polymer property models (e.g. of R-p, the rate of polymerisation and of co polymer composition distribution, CCD), hardware and software sensors, non- linear observers for the data interpretation, and easily tuneable, robust c ontrollers for the optimal and safe operation of reactors that produce poly mer of a pre-specified quality. An overview of the results obtained in this area show that such an approach allows not only to follow and control prod uction rates and the evolution of the CCD, but to obtain other useful proce ss information on the evolution of such properties as the number of particl es per litre of emulsion (N-p) and the number of radicals per particle (ii) in emulsion polymerisation, dr the overall termination rate constant in so lution reactions. It is also shown that this method can be used not only fo r reactor control, but also for fault detection and process optimisation.