Study on kinetics of propylene polymerization at different temperatures via Monte Carlo simulation

摘要

The elementary reactions of propylene polymerization catalyzed by conventional Ziegler-Natta catalysts was proposed according to the comprehensive view and without considering the effect of any impurity in the material on propylene polymerization. The Monte Carlo simulation technique was employed to investigate the kinetics of propylene polymerization in order to determine the validity of the stationary state assumption and the effects of the polymerization temperature on the polymerization. The simulated total amount of active species, which only increases quickly at the beginning of the polymerization, indicates that the stationary state assumption in the studied system is valid. Moreover, significant effects of polymerization temperature on the polymerization conversion, and the molecular weight and its distribution were also analyzed. The simulated results show that the consumption rate of propylene increases with the increase of polymerization temperature; the maximum values of the number-average degree of polymerization are constant at different polymerization temperatures, however, the peak appears earlier with the higher temperature; as the polymerization temperature increases, the average molecular weight decreases and the molecular weight distribution changes greatly.