Modeling of Industrial High Pressure Autoclave Polyethylene Reactor Including Decomposition Phenomena

Abstract

The aim of the present work is the development of a practical model for an industrial high-pressure polyethylene plant. The reactor considered in this work is the adiabatic slim type autoclave with four zones for free radical polymerization of ethylene. A fairly comprehensive but realistic model is described that has the ability to predict the temperature at each reaction zone as well as the effects of initiator flow changes. From the stability analysis we could identify the range of operating conditions which can effectively be used to prevent decomposition phenomena (runaway reactions) and to maximize polymer conversion in LDPE autoclaves.