COMPUTATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS OF POLYMER SHEET BREAKUP FOR OPTIMIZATION OF DEVOLATILIZATION PROCESSES IN STEAM CONTACTORS

Abstract

Polymer devolatilization is a vital process in polymer manufacturing and is significantly impactful on the successful creation of high quality polymers, meeting both rigorous product specifications and regulatory requirements. Polymers resulting from such processes have wide applications ranging from agricultural and biomedical solutions to aerospace components and even to modern day clothing and accessories. Although there are several popular methods used to accomplish the devolatilization process, this research focuses specifically on steam stripping, where superheated steam is used to remove any unwanted substances, such as volatiles and solvents, from the polymer mixture. This polymer mixture, referred to as ”cement” and comprised of polymer and a cyclohexane solvent, undergoes mixing with superheated steam in a contactor to evaporate and remove the cyclohexane. Between the heat and the aerodynamic forces caused by the mixing, the liquid polymer experiences sheet breakup. The objective of the current study is to create a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that solves for the initial breakup of the liquid mixture, and then use the resulting diameter distribution to simulate the trajectory and multiphase mass transfer of the cement as it forms into smaller and smaller droplets. A parametric