Assessing the Hydrodynamic Effect on the Molecular Parameters of the Isoprene Polymerization Product in the Presence of a Neodymium-Based Catalytic System

The paper presents findings on the kinetic regularities of polyisoprene production in the presence of neodymium-based catalytic systems for large-scale production processes. A mathematical model has been developed for batch and continuous isoprene polymerization. The study identified dependences of changes in the number-average and mass-average molecular weight of the resulting product on the length of the applied reactor cascade under continuous static operation. The description of the continuous production mode leads to the necessity of analyzing the structure of the flows by means of the distribution functions of the residence time in the reactor, which is the basis for the formation of a block of modules of the hydrodynamic level. A change in the length of the reactor cascade leads to a change in the residence time of particles in the reactor and, consequently, to a change in the hydrodynamic regime. With the help of mathematical modeling tools, the influence of the hydrodynamic regime in the reaction zone on the molecular weight distribution of the resulting product is revealed.