A Statistical Derivation of the Average Degree of Polymerization in a Stirred Tank Reactor

Abstract

The statistical approach in its many forms has been a powerful tool in describing the structural evolution of nonlinear polymers, but has been limited in its application to batch processes. This restriction is removed by considering the paradigm of Af homopolymerization in a homogeneous stirred tank reactor. The number-and weight -average degrees of polymerization are derived from the recursive arguments which properly account for the non-random combination of monomers caused by the residence time distribution. The results are in agreement with those derived from the kinetic equations. This route is not necessarily a simpler or more powerful approach than solution of the kinetic equations, but it does provide new insights into this particular problem, as well as demonstrating the versatility of the statistical approach.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA209873

Entities

People

  • Neil Dotson

Organizations

  • University of Minnesota

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Availability
  • Batch Reactors
  • Biomedical And Dental Materials
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Classification
  • Conversion
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Integral Equations
  • Materials Science
  • Military Research
  • Polymers
  • Reactivities
  • Security
  • Steady State

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Adaptive Control and Estimation with Uncertainty in Dynamic Systems.
  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Polymer Science and Technology