Modelling, simulation and experimental validation for styrene miniemulsion polymerization process

Miniemulsion polymerization is a new challenge on the universe of polymerization. It has been extensively studied in the last decade due to its advantages when compared with conventional emulsion polymerization. New improvements on the process knowledge are welcome to give a better understanding of the process. Therefore, a good representative model is an important tool to improve fundamental knowledge and to reduce the time required to process developments. The scope of this work is the development of a detailed model for the miniemulsion polymerization process and its validation with experimental data. The mathematical model consists of representative phenomenological equations with parameters that should be estimated based on experimental data. The model development was based on previous literature work with some modifications and implementations to account for the kinetics and associate physical-chemical phenomena observed in the experimental data for the studied formulation.