To produce a wide range of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) with excellent high clarity and suitable properties to process PS foam via direct injection extrusion by the continuous bulk polymerization process using Toyo Engineering Corp. (TOYO)/Mitsui Chemicals Inc. technology.
Styrene monomer, small amount of solvent and additives are fed to a specially designed reactor (1) where the polymerization is carried out. The polymerization temperature of the reactor is carefully controlled at a constant level to maintain the desired conversion rate. The heat of polymerization is easily removed by a specially designed heat-transfer system.
At the exit of the reactor, the polymerization is essentially complete. The mixture is then preheated (2) and transferred to the devolatilizers (3) where volatile components are separated from the polymer solution by evaporation under vacuum. The residuals are condensed (4) and recycled back to the process. The molten polymer is pumped through a die (5) and cut into pellets by a pelletizer (6).
Licensor: Toyo Engineering Corp. (TOYO)/Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
