Optimization of the polymer foam process by the residence time distribution approach

Abstract

In this work, we used the residence time distribution to study the polystyrene foaming during an extrusion process. The extruder associated with a gear pump is simply and quantitatively described by three ontinuously stirred tank reactors with recycling loops and one plug-flow reactor. The blowing agent used is CO 2 and is obtained by thermal decomposition of a chemical blowing agent (CBA). This approach allows the optimization of the density of the foam in accordance with the CBA kinetic of decomposition. © 2009 American Chemical Society.