Kee-Youn Yoo

Modeling and analysis of a slurry reactor system for heterogeneous olefin polymerization: The effects of hydrogen concentration and initial catalyst size

This article deals with the development of a model for the polymerization process using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst in a slurry reactor system. Employed here is the hierarchical model describing the entire reactor system that is subcategoried by the gas bubble phase, the continuous gas phase, the liquid phase, the solid polymer particle, and the surface of catalyst where chemical reaction occurs. The concept of the multi-grain model (MGM) is introduced to describe the growth of polymer particle from the original catalyst particle. We also adopt the concept of multiple active sites to elucidate the broad molecular weight distribution (MWD). The major concern here is the effects of the hydrogen concentration and the size of the initial catalyst on the performance of the polymerization reactor. It is demonstrated that the hydrogen gas can be used for the purpose of controlling not only the molecular weight but the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the polymer. In addition, the relationship between the molecular weight and the concentration of hydrogen gas is investigated. The size of the initial catalyst is found to exercise a significant influence on the morphology of the resultant polymer particle.

Semi-empirical modeling of carbonator with the physico-chemical characteristics of sorbent activity parameterized by the partial least squares method

We developed an evaluation module to calculate the carbon capture efficiency of a fluidized bed carbonator via the semi-empirical modeling of the solvent activity of lime particles. Since the solvent activity is affected by regeneration cycle number, reactor temperature, and particle size, two design parameters for the particle activity model, i.e., the characteristic time (t*) and the maximum conversion of particles (XN), were determined as functions of the carbonator operating conditions by applying the partial least square (PLS) method to experimental data reported in the literature. The validity of the proposed approach was shown, and the effects of reactor design factors on the carbonator performance are discussed by means of appropriate simulation studies.

Control of a Continuous Polymerization Reactor by Wiener Input/Output Data-Based Predictive Controller with Direct Inverse Identification

ABSTRACT This article reports an experimental study for the identification and predictive control of a continuous methyl methacrylate (MMA) solution polymerization reactor. The Wiener model was introduced to identify the polymerization reactor in a more efficient manner than the conventional methods of Wiener model identification. In particular, the method of subspace identification was employed and the inverse of the nonlinear part was directly identified. The input variables in this work were the jacket inlet temperature and the feed flow rate, while the monomer conversion and the weight average molecular weight were selected as the output variables. On the basis of the identified model a Wiener-type input/output data-based predictive controller was designed and applied to the property control of polymer product in the continuous MMA polymerization reactor by conducting an on-line digital control experiment with online densitometer and viscometer. Despite the complex and nonlinear characteristics of the polymerization reactor, the proposed controller was found to perform satisfactorily for property control in the multiple-input multiple-output system with input constraints for both set-point tracking and disturbance rejection. This was also confirmed by simulation results.

Modeling and analysis of circulation variables of continuous sorbent loop cycling for CO2 capture

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are a cornerstone for reducing CO2 emissions from energy and energy-intensive industries. Among the various CCS technologies, solid sorbent looping systems are considered to be potentially promising solutions for reducing CO2 capture energy penalty. We present an evaluation module for a carbonator with sorbent looping cycle to calculate the carbonation efficiency. The module incorporates a simple sorbent activity model, and the solid/gas balances are constructed by assuming simple reactor mixing quality. By conducting simulations, we examine the variation in the carbonation efficiencies as a function of the sorbent looping operation factors and discuss an optimum operating strategy.