Simulation of nylon 6 polymerization in tubular reactors with recycle

Abstract

In the hydrolytic polymerization of ε -caprolactam, the ring opening of the monomer is much slower than the polyaddition reaction. Hence, the mixing of aminocaproic acid to the feed results in a faster conversion of the monomer. Industrially, this fact is exploited by using a recycle stream. An isothermal plug flow reactor (PFR) with a recycle is simulated in this study, using two techniques: the method of successive substitutions and Wegstein's method. It is found that, under certain operating conditions, the use of a recycle stream gives higher monomer conversions and lower cyclic dimer concentrations than either a PFR or a homogeneous continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor (HCSTR), with the degree of polymerization almost the same as that obtained in an HCSTR, and thus offers a considerable advantage. However, when a recycle reactor is coupled with a subsequent flashing operation and a finishing reactor, these advantages are considerably reduced.