Fundamental modeling in anionic polymerization processes

Abstract

Abstract The anionic solution polymerization of butadiene was studied employing both batch and continuous reactor operations with n ‐butyllithium ( n ‐BuLi) initiator, tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) modifier, and hexane solvent. A model was proposed that described the kinetics as a function of both the fully modified and unmodified regressed rate data. Using the proposed kinetic model, the conversion, vinyl structure, and heterogeneity index of polymers produced for a series of continuous runs were successfully predicted. The model was used to simulate several process configurations.