Computational modeling toward full chain of polypropylene production: From molecular to industrial scale

Since polypropylene was synthesized in 1954, tremendous breakthroughs have been achieved in trans-ferring polypropylene from a discovery in the laboratory to an indispensable industrial product. One of the most difficult issue in polypropylene production is the precise control of the synthesis process to tai-lor the microstructure and the end-use properties, which needs deep understanding of the quantitative relationships among process, polymer structures and properties. However, semi-empirical correlations and experimental measurements are not able to capture the complex multi-scale characteristics of propylene polymerization process. In recent years, mathematical models have been intensively devel-oped to quantitatively link the microstructure of polymer to final macroscopic properties at multi-scales. This review provides an overview of progress in computational modeling of polypropylene pro-duction from the perspectives of science and engineering aspects covering synthesis, structure-property relationship, reactor design, processing, composites, and applications. The developed mathematical mod -els at various scales from molecular scale, particle scale and reactor scale toward plant scale throughout the full chain of production process are elaborated. The coupling strategies of models among different scales will be presented. In addition, model-based determination of quantitative relationships among process, apparatus, structure, and property for polypropylene are fully discussed including the recently developed emerging numerical approaches such as machine learning assisted modeling.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Since the synthesis of polypropylene in 1954, significant progress has been made in the production of polypropylene, transitioning it from a laboratory discovery to an indispensable industrial product. However, the precise control of the synthesis process to tailor the microstructure and properties remains a challenging issue. Mathematical models have been developed to establish the quantitative relationships between the microstructure and macroscopic properties at various scales, and this review provides an overview of the progress in computational modeling of polypropylene production. It covers aspects such as synthesis, structure-property relationship, reactor design, processing, composites, and applications.