Simulation of continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for polypropylene production
1 Professor, Department of Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
2 Professor, Department of Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
3 Master student, Department of Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
4 Doctoral student, Department of Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
Research Article
Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 2020, 05(02), 014-023.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gjeta.2020.5.2.0095
Publication history:
Received on 08 November 2020; revised on 15 November 2020; accepted on 16 November 2020
Abstract:
This research study predicted the conversion and yield pattern for the polymerization of propylene to polypropylene. The polymerization process was performed using propylene as the monomer and ethylene as the co-monomer in a four continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) connected in series with a Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Model equations were developed for polypropylene polymerisation by applying the principle of conservation of mass in tandem with the rate equation. The resulting model equation was solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta fourth order method and a MATLAB program was written to implement the numerical techniques. The deduced model results depicted the conversion of propylene from the first reactor to the fourth reactor (0.9900 to 0.0113) and increase in polypropylene production as the reaction proceeds from the first reactor to the fourth reactor (0.0000 to 0.9878) showing the conversion and yield pattern of the process. The simulated model results were compared with literature data with a percentage deviation for polypropylene and propylene of 2.2% and 3.8% respectively.
Keywords:
Propylene; Ethylene; Polypropylene; Polymerisation; CSTR In Series.
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Copyright © 2020 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0