JP-2026514287-A - Distributor for devolatilizer with hollow double-plate assembly

Abstract

The present invention relates to a heatable partition for a defoliation apparatus 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 heatable partition comprises at least one vessel having an upstream portion and an adjacent downstream portion, the upstream portion of the vessel having a first side end having an inlet and a second side end on the opposite side connected to the downstream portion, the downstream portion of the vessel having a first side end connected to the second side end of the upstream portion and a second side end on the opposite side, the downstream portion of the vessel comprising a hollow double plate assembly, the hollow double plate assembly comprising an upper plate and a lower plate arranged in staggered order but separated such that a void chamber is defined between the upper plate and the lower plate, each of both plates having a plurality of openings, each opening in the upper plate being surrounded by a wall extending through the void chamber and surrounding the opening in the lower plate so as to form a plurality of passages that are fluid-sealed and separated from a hollow space defined in the void chamber between the passages, the hollow space being connected to an inlet for a heating medium and an outlet for a heating medium.

Inventors

• ユ、インチュアン
• チャン、セン
• チュー、フイ フェン
• ルー、チン チァウ
• グォ、ロン ガン
• リー、ジャ

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

20260508

Application Date

20231211

Priority Date

20230112

Claims (20)

1. A heatable partition for a defoliation apparatus for defoliating compositions containing volatile components, particularly for defoliating solid or liquid polymer compositions containing unreacted monomers, solvents, and/or by-products, The heated distributor comprises at least one vessel having an upstream portion and an adjacent downstream portion, The upstream portion of the container A first side end having an entrance, It comprises a second side end on the opposite side that is connected to the downstream portion, The downstream portion of the container is The first side end is connected to the second side end of the upstream portion, It comprises a second side end on the opposite side, The downstream portion of the container comprises a hollow double plate assembly, The hollow double plate assembly comprises an upper plate and a lower plate that are stacked on top of each other but separated such that a gap chamber is defined between the upper plate and the lower plate. Each of the two panels has multiple openings, Each opening in the upper plate is surrounded by a wall that extends through the gap chamber and surrounds the opening in the lower plate, forming a plurality of passages that are fluidly sealed and separated from the hollow space defined within the gap chamber between the passages. A heatable distributor in which the aforementioned hollow space is connected to an inlet for a heating medium and an outlet for a heating medium.
2. The heated distributor according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral region of the upstream portion of the container and the first side end are completely bounded by a wall, except for the inlet.
3. The heated distributor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upstream portion of the container has a circular, oval, elliptical, rectangular, square, or polygonal cross-section.
4. The heatable distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first side end of the downstream portion of the container has the same shape and dimensions as the second side end of the upstream portion of the container.
5. The peripheral region of the downstream portion of the container is partially bounded by a wall, and the remainder of the peripheral region is bounded by one or more hollow double-plate assemblies. The heatable distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the second side end of the downstream portion of the container is bounded by a wall or is open.
6. The heated distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the peripheral region of the downstream portion of the container is completely bounded by a wall, and the second side end of the downstream portion of the container is inclined and at least partially bounded by one or more hollow double-plate assemblies.
7. The heatable distributor according to claim 6, wherein the inclination angle of the second side end of the downstream portion of the container is greater than 0° and 90° or less with respect to the horizontal direction, preferably 5° to 60°, more preferably 10° to 70°, and most preferably 20° to 40°.
8. The heatable distributor according to claim 6 or 7, wherein at least 50%, preferably at least 60%, more preferably 60-95%, and most preferably 70-90% of the area of the second side end of the downstream portion of the container is bounded by one or more hollow double-plate assemblies.
9. The heated distributor according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the second side end of the downstream portion of the container is at least partially bounded by 1 to 10, preferably 1 to 5, more preferably 2 to 5, and most preferably 3 hollow double-plate assemblies, which are arranged side by side and connected to one another.
10. The upper plate and the lower plate of the hollow double plate assembly are arranged at least substantially parallel to each other. The heatable distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the upper plate and the lower plate are connected to each other at the sides of the upper plate and the lower plate via a side wall in which the gap chamber is defined between them.
11. The upper plate and the lower plate of the hollow double plate assembly have the same number of openings, Preferably, the total area of all openings in the upper plate is 0.1 to 40%, preferably 1 to 10%, of the total surface area of the upper plate, and the total area of all openings in the lower plate is 0.1 to 40%, preferably 1 to 10%, of the total surface area of the lower plate, the heatable distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
12. The openings of the upper plate and the lower plate of the hollow double plate assembly have a circular cross-sectional shape. At least 50%, preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 95%, and most preferably all of the openings in the upper and lower plates have at least substantially the same diameter. The heated distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein at least substantially the same diameter means that any of the openings has a diameter that differs from the average diameter of all the openings by 20% or less, preferably 10% or less, more preferably 5% or less, and most preferably 1% or less.
13. The heatable distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the height of the hollow space in the gap chamber of the hollow double-plate assembly is 2 to 50 mm, preferably 2 to 20 mm, more preferably 4 to 12 mm, and most preferably 6 to 8 mm.
14. The upper plate and the lower plate of the hollow double plate assembly are connected to each other at the sides of the upper plate and the lower plate via a side wall that defines the gap chamber between them. The heatable distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the inlet for the heating medium and the outlet for the heating medium are pipes extending through one or two of the side walls.
15. A defoliation apparatus 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, The aforementioned evaporation device, At least one inlet for the composition to be defoliated, At least one outlet for the defolatable composition, At least one outlet for gas, A container comprising at least one heatable distributor as described in any one of claims 1 to 14. A daphne detector equipped with a daphne detector.
16. The aforementioned evaporation device, One heatable distributor, It comprises 1 to 20, preferably 5 to 15, more preferably 7 to 12, heatable trays, The daphne generator according to claim 15, wherein each of the heatable trays comprises one or more hollow double-plate assemblies extending over the entire area of the heatable tray when viewed in a horizontal plane.
17. The aforementioned evaporation device, The cartridge comprises a support element on which the at least one heatable distributor and/or the at least one heatable tray is detachably or fixedly arranged. The cartridge preferably comprises several beams, which are arranged at least substantially horizontally and spaced apart from one another to frame the internal space. The davoltation apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the support element is fixed to the beam so that at least one heatable distributor and/or at least one heatable tray can be placed on the support element.
18. The aforementioned cartridge One central inlet line for the heating medium, It further includes one central outlet line for the heating medium, The daphne generator according to claim 17, wherein the inlet line for the heating medium is connectable to the inlet of the at least one heatable distributor and/or the at least one heatable tray, and the outlet line for the heating medium is connectable to the outlet of the at least one heatable distributor and/or the at least one heatable tray.
19. A method for defoliating a composition containing volatile components, A step of supplying the composition to the inlet of the daphne apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 18, The steps include supplying a heating medium to at least one heatable distributor, A step of drawing gas from the aforementioned outlet for gas, A method comprising the step of drawing out the deflated composition from the outlet for the deflated composition.
20. The composition is evaporated, The composition is i) a mixture containing at least one heat-sensitive polymer and/or heat-sensitive monomer, and ii) at least one non-heat-sensitive polymer and/or non-heat-sensitive monomer, The above method is carried out in a daphne generator, the daphne generator having at least one, preferably at least two trays, each having a hollow double plate assembly in the upper area of the container, The lower portion of the container comprises at least one, preferably at least two, trays, each having a hollow double plate assembly. The method according to claim 19, wherein the hollow double plate assembly of the tray installed in the upper portion of the container is adjusted to a relatively low temperature to remove the heat-sensitive components in the upper portion of the container, while the hollow double plate assembly of the tray installed in the lower portion of the container is adjusted to a higher temperature to remove the non-heat-sensitive components in the lower portion of the container.

Description

This invention relates to a partitioner for a devolatilization apparatus, and to a devolatilization apparatus for devolatilizing compositions containing volatile components, such as solid or liquid polymer compositions containing unreacted monomers and solvents. Furthermore, this invention relates to a devolatilization process using such a devolatilization 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 further, the increasing temperature decreases the viscosity of the polymer, thereby improving the diffusion of volatile components within the polymer. However, most polymers are heat-sensitive to varying degrees, and therefore, to ensure polymer degradation during defoliation, the specific temperature inherent to each polymer should not be exceeded. Thus, temperature control of the composition to be defoliated during defoliation is crucial, and indeed a decisive factor. 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, while static devolatilization devices do not have moving parts but have internal structures designed to produce a high specific surface area of the composition being devolatilized. However, dynamic devolatilization devices suffer from 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 pressure is released and the volatile components evaporate. Subsequently, the polymer composition falls downward through the flash chamber, during which time multiple bubbles of volatile components are nucleated within the polymer composition. This results in a larger surface area for mass transfer, thus leading to rapid defloration. The deflorated gas phase is collected and condensed in a condenser, while the residual polymer composition collects at the bottom of the flash chamber and is removed by pumping. A falling strand defloration system operates similarly to a flash defloration system, but it features specially embodied nozzles to inject the polymer composition into the chamber as falling strands, thereby promoting the development of volatile component bubbles and accelerating the diffusion process. To efficiently utilize the devolatilization unit, a distributor is often positioned at the top of the unit to regulate