Styrene-maleic anhydride copolymerization in a recycle tubular reactor: reactor stability and product quality

A tubular recycle reactor was developed to ensure good homogeneity of concn. and temp. in the copolymn. of styrene and maleic anhydride. The compn. of the copolymer obtained is in good agreements with predicted values and the uniformity of compn. was measured for the entire mol.-wt. distribution. The characterization of the reactor (both hydrodynamic and stability) and the quality of the resulting polymer are presented herein. The limits of use of this reactor for the styrene-maleic anhydride copolymn. are described. Furthermore the effects of the operating parameters on the reactor and the copolymn. reaction are discussed. [on SciFinder (R)]