Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.34, No.12, 995-1004, 1994
Non-Newtonian and Nonisothermal Analysis of Flow During Polymerization of Methyl-Methacrylate in a Model Twin-Screw Extruder .2.
The flow analysis network (FAN) method was modified to analyze the flow during polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in a model counter-rotating nonintermeshing screw extruder. The shear viscosity of the reactive mixture in the twin screw extruder was considered as a mixture of polymer and monomer. Thus, the reaction viscosity of the mixture of polymer and monomer was taken to be an explicit function dependent on the shear rate, temperature, conversion, and molecular weight. A new flow path method was developed to calculate the residence time distribution, which related to the degree of conversion. The numerical prediction of the velocity, temperature, viscosity, and pressure profiles during reaction in the model twin screw extruder is described.