POLYOLEFIN REACTION ENGINEERING

Written by two world-renowned authors pooling their experience from industry and academia, this book adopts a unique engineering approach using elegant mathematical modeling techniques to relate polymerization conditions, reactor and catalyst type to polyolefin properties. Readers thus learn how to design and optimize polymerization conditions to produce polyolefins with a given microstructure. The book concludes with a discussion of such recent developments as combined metallocene catalysts and polyolefin/clay nanocomposites. Contents Introduction to Polyolefins Polyolefin Microstructural Characterization Polymerization Catalysis and Mechanism Polymerization Reactors Polymerization Kinetics Polyolefin Microstructural Modeling Particle Growth and Single Particle Modelling Macroscopic Reactor Modeling PREFACE INTRODUCTION TO POLYOLEFINS Introduction Polyethylene Resins Polypropylene Resins POLYOLEFIN MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION Introduction Molecular Weight Distribution Chemical Composition Distribution Cross-Fractionation Techniques Long-Chain Branching POLYMERIZATION CATALYSIS AND MECHANISM Introduction Catalyst Types Supporting Single-Site Catalysts Polymerization Mechanism with Coordination Catalysts POLYOLEFIN REACTORS AND PROCESSES Introduction Reactor Configurations and Design Olefin Polymerization Processes Conclusion POLYMERIZATION KINETICS Introduction Fundamental Model for Polymerization Kinetics Nonstandard Polymerization Kinetics Models Vapor-Liquid-Solid Equilibrium Considerations POLYOLEFIN MICROSTRUCTURAL MODELING Introduction Instantaneous Distributions Monte Carlo Simulation PARTICLE GROWTH AND SINGLE PARTICLE MODELING Introduction Particle Fragmentation and Growth Single Particle Models Limitations of the PFM/MGM Approach: Particle Morphology DEVELOPING MODELS FOR INDUSTRIAL REACTORS Introduction