Smart manufacturing enabled by continuous monitoring and control of polymer characteristics

Abstract Smart manufacturing will have an enormous effect on the efficiency, economics, and quality of polymeric materials. Very few polymer manufacturing processes are fully optimized, and many follow legacy empirical processes known to yield products with acceptable properties. Optimization of these processes will lead to more efficient use of primarily fossil fuel–based energy and feed stocks, plant assets, and labor, as well as reduced emissions per ton of product; to greater worker and environmental safety by eliminating manual reactor sampling; and to an increase in product consistency and quality. This chapter focuses on the potential for smart polymer manufacturing that is currently developing, based on the automatic continuous online monitoring of polymerization (ACOMP) reaction platform. ACOMP continuously withdraws a minor volume of reactor contents from the process, dilutes, and conditions it as needed, producing a stream of dilute, analytical grade polymer solution, which can then flow through any desired train of detectors to obtain such characteristics as weight average molar mass (Mw), reduced viscosity (RV), conversion rates, and copolymer composition.