Reaction calorimetry for studying kinetics in bulk phase polymerization of propene

Abstract

Polypropylene is one of the commercially most important polymers and is produced via coordinative polymerization with supported metal-organic catalysts in different processes. While kinetic measurements for slurry and gas-phase polymerization of propene are well-established, for bulk phase polymerization of propene, often the only kinetic information obtained from an experiment is the yield. In this paper, two calorimetric methods and their application for measurement of kinetics of bulk phase polymerization of propene are discussed. On the one hand a special calibration-free heat flow calorimeter and on the other hand power compensation calorimetry coupled with a software sensor for online baseline correction.