MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL BY SOLID AND GAS PHASE RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY OF MANUFACTURING PROCESSES FOR CHEMICALLY CROSSLINKED POLYETHYLENE FOR INSULATED ELECTRIC CABLES AND FOR OTHER PRODUCTS

摘要

Modifications are made to the hardware and software of Raman laserspectroscopic instruments to allow them be used to measure all the individualconcentrations of the byproducts of chemically crosslinked polyethylene.The modified instruments of the preferred embodiments are integratedinto a production process for chemically crosslinked polyethylene insulatedelectric cables or for other products made of chemically crosslinkedpolyethylene. This allows in situ measurements of byproduct(s)concentration(s) to aid in control with the use of a computer of processtemperature(s) and other control variables (e.g., peroxide concentration) asselected by a manufacturer.The measurements obtained by the improved and adapted instrumentsof the preferred embodiments are combined with mathematical models andsophisticated computer software or the standard recipes already in use in thechemically crosslinked polyethylene cable manufacturing industry, to improvefurther the control of the chemically crosslinked polyethylene manufacturingprocess or to design novel manufacturing processes for not only insulatedelectric cable but also other products made of chemically crosslinkedpolyethylene such as, but not limited to, medical prosthetic devices and goodspackaging.