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Emulsion polymerisation is widely used in industry to produce products ranging from bulk commodities to consumer goods.
The process is preferred because the reaction medium (water) facilitates agitation and ease of heat and mass transfer
whilst being environmentally friendly, as well as providing an inherently safe process. However, modelling and simulation
of emulsion polymerisation is a challenging task because complex physico-chemical sub-processes exist within the
multi-phase process.
So far most available models in emulsion polymerisation only take into account the kinetics of the reaction, assuming
perfect mixing in the reaction vessel. This assumption excludes a number of important phenomena such as the effect of
shear on the particle size distribution (PSD), the change in rheology of the latex during the course of the reaction
and the effect of mixing on the reaction kinetics. The aim of my work is to produce a framework for modelling emulsion
polymerisation taking all these factors into account by using a kinetic model in conjunction with computational fluid
dynamics (CFD). The framework can be used for more rigorous modelling in emulsion polymerisation, reactor design as
well as to provide better insight into what phenomena are actually occurring inside the reaction vessel.
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