ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the economic implications of the process. The choice between extra devolatilization and the use of a longer extruder has to be based on economic considerations. However, devolatilization of monomer in reactive extrusion is from an economic point of view always much more attractive than the complete separation step needed when solution polymerization is considered. The main reasons for the difference in integral cost prices are the lower investment costs and, to a lesser extent, the savings on operator costs. These costs are connected to the additional equipment necessary to recover solvent in solution polymerization and to the continuous operation of the reactive extrusion plant. Although the functional unit method used is an overall method with limited accuracy, the example illustrates that reactive extrusion can compete with other polymerization methods. The main economic advantages of reactive extrusion are the lower investment costs and the simplicity of operation due to its continuous nature.