Influence of reaction temperature on the generation of gels during EVA production in tubular reactor

ABSTRACT The fouling formation in the EVA production leads to an increase in the residence time of the material. This result is a favorable condition to generation of the crosslinks during the polymerization. The crosslinking allows raising the molar mass of the polymer, which after the polymerization reaction are characterized as gels, thus generating problems in the product quality during production due to contamination of the resin. This paper describes the fouling process in the reactor, the defouling mechanism, the crosslinking, the scission of chain and presents a study on the influence of the reaction temperature in relation to the formation of gels by quantitative analysis by Optical Controller System -OCS. The average temperature rise of the reaction at 10 ºC, helped to reduce the generation of gels due to the viscosity reduction over the reactor, which reduces the polymer residence time in the walls of the tube and consequently the formation of fouling.