Steady‐state analysis of emulsion polymerisation in a seeded, continuous stirred‐ tank reactor

Abstract

Abstract A steady‐state model is presented for emulsion polymerisation in a continuous stirredtank reactor (CSTR) which is fed with a narrow particle‐size seed latex. The rather general kinetic model of Ugelstad et al 1,5 for monodisperse particles is applied to the polymerisation among latexes of broad particle size distribution in a CSTR. The model accounts for free radical absorption and desorption from the latex particles, for termination in the particles and the water phase, and for polymerisation within the particles. Results presented include the latex particle size distributions in the CSTR effluent stream and the number of free radicals per particle, averaged over these size distributions.