Optimization of the polycondensation stage of poly(ethylene terephthalate) reactors

✍ Scribed by Anil Kumar; Satya n. Sharma; Santosh K. Gupta

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 703 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.1984.070290403

✦ Synopsis

A general kinetic scheme for the polycondensation step of the PET formation has been used to establish the mole balance equations of various functional groups in batch reactors. An objective function has been defined which aims to attain a desired degree of polymerization in the shortest time, has a specified level of diethylene glycol group content, and minimizes the other side products. Using the control vector iteration procedure, an optimum temperature profile has been calculated. The computations suggest that a high temperature should be used initially which must be lowered as the time of reaction increases for limiting the formation of side products.