Study of the kinetics of carboxymethyl cellulose synthesis in a screw reactor

Abstract

The object of research is the reactor for the synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose. An important indicator of the quality of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, which determines the field of its application, is the degree of polymerization. However, obtaining a product with a specific parameter under industrial conditions is associated with a number of difficulties. Therefore, important research tasks are the development of a mathematical model of the kinetics of carboxymethyl cellulose synthesis, experimental studies to determine the rate constants of synthesis reactions, modeling of a screw reactor for the synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose, and computer studies.

When studying the kinetics of reactions of carboxymethyl cellulose, one of the possible approaches was to use a quasi-homogeneous model, which is widely used in modeling processes on a catalyst grain. This approach is used to describe and analyze individual stages; however, a number of difficulties arise in heterogeneous reactions of cellulose. In the course of these reactions, the properties of the solid phase change and the processes, respectively, are unsteady in time. The reaction does not take place on the surface of hard particles, but in the entire volume of the fibers. The concentration and reactivity of cellulose hydroxides, water, and products formed during the reaction remain approximately constant; therefore, the use of a quasi-homogeneous model is quite acceptable and does not cause additional mathematical difficulties. As a result of these experiments, according to the obtained integral curves, the method of least squares was used to find the constants. To determine the values of the kinetic constants, an experiment was carried out in an integral isothermal reactor. During the experiments, the degree of substitution of carboxymethyl cellulose and the concentration of free alkali were measured. As a result of numerous implementations of the search task, the values of the constants and activation energies were obtained. This kinetic modeling approach can be used in the synthesis of other cellulose ethers. The rate constant of the synthesis reaction depends on the process conditions. Using the proposed approach to describing the interaction of cellulose with a reagent, the reaction mixture considered as a quasi-homogeneous system can be described using a single-phase flow model.