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JP-2026514213-A - Multistage defoliation apparatus with at least one static mixer

JP2026514213AJP 2026514213 AJP2026514213 AJP 2026514213AJP-2026514213-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a defoliation apparatus for defoliating a composition containing volatile components, comprising an inlet for the composition to be defoliated and at least two containers arranged in series with respect to at least two containers, each of which comprises at least one distributor, an outlet line for the defoliated composition and an outlet for gas, wherein at least one distributor of the first upstream of the at least two containers has an inlet at its upstream end and an outlet at its downstream end, and at least one static mixer is located directly upstream of the distributor inlet or downstream of the distributor inlet but upstream of the distributor outlet, the inlet for the composition to be defoliated is connected to the at least one static mixer, and the outlet line for the defoliated composition of the first upstream of the at least two containers is connected to a recirculation line that leads to the at least one static mixer to which the inlet for the composition to be defoliated is connected.

Inventors

  • ユ、インチュアン
  • チャン、セン

Assignees

  • ズルツァー マネジメント アクチエンゲゼルシャフト

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20240404
Priority Date
20230411

Claims (15)

  1. A defoliation apparatus (10) for defoliating a composition containing volatile components, such as for defoliating a solid or liquid polymer composition containing unreacted monomers, solvents, and/or by-products, wherein the defoliation apparatus (10) comprises an inlet for the composition to be defoliated and at least two containers (12, 12', 12") arranged in series with respect to at least two containers (12, 12', 12"), each of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") comprising at least one distributor (14, 14', 14"), an outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defoliated composition, and an outlet (18, 18', 18") for gas, and the at least one distributor (14, 14', 14") of the first most upstream of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") comprises an inlet at its upstream end and an outlet at its downstream end, and at least A defoliation apparatus (10) is provided, wherein another static mixer (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') is located directly upstream of the inlet of the distributor (14, 14', 14"), or downstream of the inlet of the distributor (14, 14', 14") but upstream of the outlet of the distributor (14, 14', 14"), the inlet for the composition to be defoliated is connected to the at least one static mixer (28, 28', 28'', 28''''), and the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defoliated composition of the first upstream container of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") is connected to a recirculation line (22, 22') which leads to the at least one static mixer (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') to which the inlet for the composition to be defoliated is connected.
  2. The defoliation apparatus (10) according to claim 1, wherein a preheater (25, 25', 25") is located upstream of the at least one static mixer (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') in the recirculation line (22, 22').
  3. The davoltation apparatus (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a back pressure valve (26) is located upstream of the at least one static mixer (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') in the recirculation line (22, 22').
  4. The daphne apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the daphne-dehydrated composition of the first upstream container among the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") is connected to a connecting line (23, 23') leading to the inlet of the second next downstream container among the at least two containers (12, 12', 12").
  5. The defoliation apparatus (10) according to claim 4, wherein the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defoliated composition of the second downstream container (12, 12', 12") of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") is connected to a recirculation line (22, 22') which is connected to the connection line (23, 23').
  6. The davoltaic apparatus (10) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the connection line (23, 23') includes static mixers (28, 28', 28'', 28''''), a downstream preheater (25, 25', 25"), a downstream back pressure valve (26), and/or static mixers (28, 28', 28'', 28''''), and the static mixers (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') are connected to the inlet of the at least one distributor (14, 14', 14") of the second container (12, 12', 12").
  7. A defoliation apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising a third downstream container (12, 12', 12") having at least one distributor (14, 14', 14"), an outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defoliated composition, and an outlet (18, 18', 18") for the gas, wherein the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defoliated composition of the second container (12, 12', 12") is connected to a connecting line (23, 23') leading to the inlet of the third downstream container (12, 12', 12").
  8. The daphne generator (10) according to claim 7, wherein a preheater (25, 25', 25") and a back pressure valve (26) and/or static mixers (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') are arranged on the connection line (23, 23'), and the static mixers (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') are connected to the inlet of at least one distributor (14, 14', 14") of the third container (12, 12', 12").
  9. The davoltation apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein at least one, preferably all, of the at least one static mixer (28, 28', 28'', 28'''') is selected from the group consisting of an X-type static mixer, a vortex/spiral-type static mixer, a quattro-type static mixer, a baffle plate-type static mixer, a turbulator/strip-type static mixer, and any combination of two or more of the aforementioned mixer types.
  10. A daphne generator (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein each of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") comprises one distributor (14, 14', 14"), and preferably, each of the at least one distributor (14, 14', 14") in each of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") comprises a pipe or an upstream portion that is a pipe.
  11. A polymer preparation plant comprising at least one polymerization reactor, the outlet of at least one of the at least one polymerization reactor, and at least one defoliation device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
  12. A method for defolazing a composition containing volatile components, such as for defolazing a solid or liquid polymer composition containing unreacted monomers, solvents, and/or by-products, comprising the steps of: supplying the composition to be defolazed to the inlet for the composition to be defolazed of a defolazing apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 10; drawing gas from the outlets (18, 18', 18") for each of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12"); and drawing the defolazed composition from the outlet lines (20, 20', 20") for each of the at least two containers (12, 12', 12") for the defolazed composition.
  13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the defoliation apparatus (10) comprises three containers (12, 12', 12"), and the first container and the second container (12, 12', 12") each have a recirculation line (22, 22') that connects them back to their respective containers (12, 12', 12") from the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defoliated composition.
  14. Based on the total volume of liquid drawn from the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defolatable composition from the first container (12, 12', 12"), the ratio of the liquid drawn from the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defolatable composition from the first container (12, 12', 12") and returned to the first container (12, 12', 12") via the recirculation line (22, 22') is 0 to 90%, preferably at least 0.25 to 85%, most preferably 50 to 80%, and/or the second The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the ratio of the liquid drawn from the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defolatable composition of the second container (12, 12', 12") and returned to the second container (12, 12', 12") via the recirculation line (22, 22') is 0 to 90%, preferably at least 0.25 to 85%, most preferably 50 to 80%, based on the total volume of liquid drawn from the outlet line (20, 20', 20") for the defolatable composition of the second container (12, 12', 12") and recirculated back to the second container (12, 12', 12") via the recirculation line (22, 22'), is 0 to 90%, preferably at least 0.25 to 85%, most preferably 50 to 80%.
  15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the composition to be deflated is selected from the group consisting of polycaprolactone, polyolefin elastomer, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polyolefin, and a mixture or copolymer of two or more of the aforementioned polymers.

Description

This invention relates to a multi-stage defoliation apparatus for defoliating compositions containing volatile components, such as solid or liquid polymer compositions containing unreacted monomers and solvents; a polymer preparation plant equipped with such a multi-stage defoliation apparatus; and a defoliation method using such a multi-stage defoliation apparatus. Devolatilization, or degassing, refers to the controlled removal of gases and other volatile substances such as solvents or water from solids and liquids, respectively. Devolatilization is typically used to remove volatile components, which are mostly components with relatively low molecular weights, such as residual monomers from polymers, solvents, reaction by-products, and water. This devolatilization is necessary to achieve the required purity of each polymer before use by removing harmful and/or toxic components, components that adversely affect further processing of the polymer, such as moldability, components that degrade the polymer's properties, components that cause unpleasant odors, and/or components that are undesirable for other reasons. Furthermore, by removing monomers and solvents from the polymer composition, it becomes possible to recover and potentially recycle monomers and solvents during the process, thereby increasing process yield and reducing waste. To achieve defoliation, the components to be evaporated must each have a higher partial pressure or thermodynamic activity than the polymer. Furthermore, the components to be evaporated must be able to diffuse through the polymer composition to the phase boundary. Specifically, in the case of viscous polymers or polymer melts, where the polymer and polymer melt typically have similar viscosity, a slow diffusion rate can be a rate limiting factor. Therefore, to accelerate defoliation, the composition to be defoliated is usually defoliated at high temperatures and/or at pressures below atmospheric pressure. This is because both measurements increase the thermodynamic activity of the volatile components, and the increasing temperature further reduces the viscosity of the polymer, thereby improving the diffusion of volatile components within the polymer. Typically, polymer defoliation is carried out by preheating the composition to be defoliated to extremely high temperatures under controlled pressure in a preheater, and then supplying the composition to a multi-stage defoliation unit so that the volatile components evaporate and are separated from the polymer melt under the reduced pressure. Often, the composition to be defolable contains 60% or more volatile components, based on the total composition to be defolable, i.e., the polymer melt and volatile components combined. Typically, such multi-stage defolable apparatuses comprise three sequential defolable vessels that successively reduce the volatile component content in the polymer melt to low ppm levels. It is important that the volatile components vaporize into the gas phase during defolableation, developing and forming bubbles, which can then diffuse from the polymer melt to the melt surface. A carefully designed defolable method should ensure that the separation steps described above reach equilibrium conditions. Several types of devolatilization devices are known, including static and dynamic devolatilization devices. Dynamic devolatilization devices have moving parts, such as blades, to maintain a high interfacial concentration gradient and a high diffusion rate of volatile components within the polymer. Static devolatilization devices, on the other hand, do not have moving parts but include internal structures such as one or more perforated trays, one or more structural packings, and/or one or more random packings, to generate a high specific surface area of the composition to be devolatilized and to distribute the composition across the entire cross-section of the devolatilization device. However, dynamic devolatilization devices are associated with serious drawbacks due to their moving parts, including high cost, high energy consumption during operation, the need for regular maintenance, and a relatively high leakage rate. Therefore, compared to dynamic devolatilization apparatuses, static devolatilization apparatuses have advantages such as lower energy consumption, lower installation costs, less maintenance required, and a relatively low leakage rate, due to the absence of moving parts. Common types of static devolatilization apparatuses are flash devolatilization apparatuses and falling strand devolatilization apparatuses. Flash devolatilization apparatuses typically comprise a preheater, such as a heat exchanger, and a flash chamber. During operation, the polymer composition to be devolatilized is first pumped to the heat exchanger, where it is heated and optionally pressurized to reduce its viscosity. The polymer composition is then pumped from the heat exchanger to the top of the flash chamber, where the pressu