Polymerization Reaction Engineering

Polymerization and the reaction of polymers are in many respects similar to ordinary chemical reactions, there are some significant differences that make the former unique in the sense of reactor and reaction engineering. These are high viscosities and low diffusion rates associated with concentrated polymer solution and polymer melts. This section describes some engineering aspects of polymerization related in these unique polymer properties.

Reactor of Polymerization
Although the high viscosity and low diffusivity associated with polymer melts and concentrated solutions lead to complications in designing polymerization reaction, they actually simplify the  associated theoretical analysis. The reaction for this is that there is no turbulence in most polymer systems, and the consequent steady laminar flow can be analyzed more easily.

There are many types of reactor to control the polymerization reaction. On this reaction actually they control the flow rate, temperature and composition of the polymer. The type of reactors of polymerization are as follows:

• Batch Reactors
• Tubular Flow Reactors
• Stirred Thank Reactors