Copolimerización de ácido acrílico y acetato de vinilo. Compor­tamiento en un reactor discontinuo y en un reactor continuo de tanque agitado

Abstract

A comparison, regarding its chemical homogeneity, between copo­lymers of acrylic acid and vinyl acetate, obtained by radical solution copolymeri­zation in ethanol, by two different processes (in a continuous stirred tank reactor andina discontinuous reactor), was performed. The influence ofthe operating conditions of the continnous reactor (mean residence time and feed composi­tion) on the composition of the copolymer obtained at steady state was studied. It was observed that mean residence time has a relatively small influence, being the monomer composition of the feed stream the decisive factor, which determi­nes copolymer composition. A direct dependence between the acrylic a cid molar composition of the synthesized copolymer and the acrylic acid/vinyl acetate mo­lar ratio in the reactor feed stream was also observed. The homogeneity in chemi­cal composition of the copolymers was determined by the method of fractional precipitation. It was shown the higb chemical homogeneity of the copolymer ob­tained in tbe continuous stirred tank reactor, in comparison to that obtained in the discontinuous reactor. This procedure is very simple and can be easily implemented.