ONLINE CONVERSION MONITORING THROUGH ULTRASOUND PROPAGATION VELOCITY-MEASUREMENTS IN EMULSION POLYMERIZATION

An on-line sensor for estimating conversion from measurements of ultrasound propagation velocity in emulsion polymerizations has been developed. The sensor does not require a sampling circuit, because it can be directly plugged in the reacting mixture. The performance of the sensor has been tested by comparison with off-line gravimetric measurements of conversion under various operating conditions. These include the homopolymerization of methyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate, with different values of the monomer to water ratio and the initial concentrations of emulsifier and initiator. The results obtained using either an empirical calibration curve or a suitable a priori model indicate excellent reliability of the sensor with somewhat lower accuracy at low conversion values, i.e., when monomer droplets are present. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.