Summary: Simulation aided product design of LDPE often requires deep understanding of polymer architectures produced in the industrial polymerization. Therefore, a hybrid-stochastic approach is further developed that allows for the good description of the typical polymeric microstructure produced in a multi-zone autoclave reactor. The here presented kinetic network goes beyond the basic polymerization scheme and accounts for the propagation of terminal double bonds as well as the mechanical degradation of polymer molecules due to shear stress. By including these reactions a good agreement between experimental and predicted molecular weight distribution is achieved. Furthermore, the comparison of individual contraction factors from experimental data and contraction factors calculated by a 3-D random walker result in a good agreement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.