ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how to integrate all the foregoing elements of the analysis into a sound separation design. It describes simple methods for measuring the equilibrium solubility coefficient of gases and solvents in solid polymers, two types of sorption in polymers below their glass transition temperature, and a “universal” isotherm that can be used to model the gas solubility coefficient over wide ranges of solvent activity. The chapter provides the background for calculating unsteady-state fluxes of solvents from polymer solids when the diffusion coefficients are constant. It illustrates how to set up solutions for typical devolatilization problems with fibers, latices, and particles. For most latices, the diffusion of monomer from the polymer will not be the rate-limiting step because the particles are so small. There are two general classes of application: the removal of water from porous solid particles originally conveyed in a water slurry or the removal of sorbed water from hygroscopic polymer pellets.
