Formulation and process determined fouling prediction for the continuous emulsion co polymerisation of vinyl acetate

Abstract

Fouling is challenging for the industrial implementation of continuous emulsion polymerisations. A requirement for the development of successful anti-fouling concepts is an in-depth understanding of the processes involved in fouling and the knowledge of the main influencing factors. In this work, an experiment-based strategy was developed for the quantification of fouling trends and in order to calculate the expected fouling intensities during the continuous emulsion polymerisation of vinyl acetate copolymers. These, then, can be correlated with the direct process parameters temperature, initiator and emulsifier content and comonomer ratio. The expected fouling tendency for formulations could be determined in the investigated range with an accuracy of ± 15% referred to experimental validations.