Monitoring Product Viscosity For Resins Manufacturing
An expert in the field of chemical engineering offers advice to resin manufacturers.
QUESTION: We produce many types of synthetic resins in our coating plants, and for each type we must comply with several formulations. Is there an easier, more reliable way to monitor product viscosity and determine the end of a reaction other than classical manual sampling and laboratory testing?
ANSWER: There are reactor-mounted viscometers with probes inserted in the reactor. Generally, they are unreliable because of inaccurate temperature measurements and interference with nitrogen bubbles or solid particles in the reactor contents.
The best and most accurate way to monitor viscosity is through online continuous viscosity measurement, where a small quantity of product is circulated through a viscometer mounted in an independently temperature-controlled enclosure near the reactor.