Abstract—Spinning disk reactor (SDR) technology reportedly achieves significant enhancements in free radical polymerization rates. The effect on those rates has been attributed to the unique hydrodynamic environment experienced by the reacting polymer films. The rotating surface of SDR promotes extension of the polymer chains, which prevents the propagating chains from terminating through bimolecular reactions. In this work, a numerical simulation is applied to investigate how reduced rates of termination would affect time conversion behavior of free radical initiated styrene polymerization. Comparisons have been made between model predictions and SDR experimental results. The closeness of predicted and experimental results indicates strong evidence that the hydrodynamic regime created on the surface of a SDR can lead to reduced rates of bimolecular termination.
Index Terms—Polystyrene polymerization, spinning diskreactor, termination rate constant
Mitra Ahmadi is with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Payame Noor University (e-mail: mi_ahmadi2003@yahoo.com).
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Cite: Safoora Sajad, Mitra Ahmadi, and Mohammad Reza Moghbeli, "Kinetics Modeling of Free-Radical Polymerization on Spinning Disk Reactor," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 3, no. 6, pp.413-415, 2012.
