ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that how the devolatilization process is handled in industrial applications, some commercial, some only experimental, to try to classify the devolatilization process into areas where research is likely to be helpful, and to show that there are useful simplifying principles. In the typical industrial situation, a polymer is made in a solution or in the presence of its monomers, and after removal from the reactor; the polymer retains some level of these organics dissolved. Many industrial problems, which occur years after startup, are caused by the heat balance being neglected and by production rates being increased too far for the heat input capability of the equipment. In the manufacture of polymers such as styrene-butadiene rubber, acrylic, or neoprene latices, the polymer is made as a dispersion or latex in water. The latex usually contains residual unconverted monomers, which need to be removed.
