Semibatch Polymerization
Application ID: 1403
As reactant monomer converts into polymer chains, the density of the reacting mixture often changes notably. In this example you will look at how this effect impacts the total production of polymer in a process. The liquid phase polymerization takes place in a semibatch reactor, where two operating conditions are compared.
In the first scenario, the feed of monomer to the reactor is turned off once the maximum volume capacity is reached. In a second scenario, the feed of monomer is allowed to continuously compensate for the volume change due to chemical reaction.
The model illustrates the use of the Semibatch reactor type, that is predefined in the Reaction Engineering interface. It is also shown how to set timed events, in this case, controlling the reactant feed to the reactor.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Grille des Spécifications and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.