Solid-state polymerization in nylon 6——difference between model and practice

The continuous industrial solid-state polymerization of nylon 6 spherical pellets with different initial molecular weights and moisture contents was studied in review of different reaction conditions,such as polymerization time,polymerization temperature and moisture content. Most of the results were found identical to those concluded from models,and temperature and initial molecular weight of nylon 6 chips played a very important role in this process. The results also proved that reaction time and moisture content of chips had an important effect on the solid-state polymerization. Moreover,initial oxidation temperature of nylon 6 chips in practice was found far lower than that concluded from the model research. Therefore,the valuable experimental results can help researchers to design and improve the models in their further study.