Dynamics of a cascade of two continuous stirred tank polymerization reactors with a binary initiator mixture

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Abstract
The dynamic behavior of two continuous stirred tank reactors in series has been investigated for free radical solution polymerization of styrene with a binary mixture of two initiators having different thermal decomposition activities. For a wide range of initiator feed composition, both reactors exhibit quite complex nonlinear steady state and transient behavior. When the reactor residence time is used as a bifurcation parameter, the second reactor can have up to five steady states. For certain range of reactor operating conditions, bifurcations to various types of periodic solutions have been observed, such as Hopf bifurcation, isolas, period doubling, period‐doubling cascade, and homoclinics. The effects of other reactor variables, such as total initiator concentration, coolant temperature, and reactor volume ratio on the reactor dynamics, are illustrated to show the complex dynamic behavior of the two‐reactor system catalyzed by a mixture of t‐butyl perbenzoate and benzoyl peroxide.