METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREDICTING POLYMER LATEX PROPERTIES IN AN EMULSION POLYMERIZATION PROCESS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF THE POLYMER LATEX

摘要

The present invention is a method for predicting polymer latex properties for an emulsion polymer latex based on statistical relationships between the polymer latex properties and process parameters for the emulsion polymerization process. The method for predicting one or more polymer latex properties for an emulsion polymer latex according to the invention includes conducting an emulsion polymerization process in a reactor including one or more reactor inputs to produce an emulsion polymer latex, measuring a set of process parameters for the emulsion polymerization process, performing a heat balance and a mass balance across the reactor based on the set of measured process parameters to determine a set of calculated polymer latex properties for the emulsion polymerization process, and determining one or more predicted polymer latex properties for the emulsion polymer being prepared in the emulsion polymerization process using the measured process parameters, the calculated polymer latex properties, and a set of predetermined statistical relationships between the process parameters and the polymer latex properties to be predicted. The present invention also includes an apparatus and a computer program product for predicting the polymer latex properties of an emulsion polymer latex.