Modeling and process optimization of a full-scale emulsion polymerization reactor

One of the most common but promising processes for the production of paints and coatings is the free radical emulsion polymerization reaction involving different types of monomers. As it is also demonstrated by statistics concerning accidents in chemical industries, polymerizations are one of the most frequent causes of thermal runaway; therefore such syntheses require a very high level of control of all the operating variables, especially at full plant scale where safety problems are of paramount importance. The main aims of this work were the modeling and the industrial scale optimization of a complex polymerization process. Since four different monomers are involved in different proportions in such a process, the pseudo-homopolymer approach together with available literature correlations for the estimation of the main constitutive parameters of the system were used to solve the mathematical model and simulate the dynamics of the synthesis at the full plant scale. The proposed model and all the constitutive parameters estimates were validated through the comparison with both laboratory and full-scale experimental data, demonstrating a good agreement. Finally, the results of the optimization procedure were validated at laboratory scale.