AMPS/AAm/AAc Terpolymerization: Experimental Verification of the EVM Framework for Ternary Reactivity Ratio Estimation

The complete error-in-variables-model (EVM) framework, consisting of both design of experiments and parameter estimation stages, is applied to the terpolymerization of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS, M1), acrylamide (AAm, M2) and acrylic acid (AAc, M3). This water-soluble terpolymer has potential for applications in enhanced oil recovery, but the associated terpolymerization kinetic characteristics are largely unstudied. In the current paper, EVM is used to design optimal experiments (for the first time in the literature), and reactivity ratios are subsequently estimated based on both low and medium-high conversion data. The results from the medium-high conversion data are more precise than those from the low conversion data, and are therefore used next to predict the terpolymer composition trajectory over the full course of conversion. Good agreement is seen between experimental data and model predictions, which confirms the accuracy of the newly determined ternary reactivity ratios: r12 = 0.66, r21 = 0.82, r13 = 0.82, r31 = 0.61, r23 = 1.61, r32 = 0.25.