Polymer Process Engineering

Polymers are ubiquitous and pervasive in industry, science, and technology. These giant molecules have great significance not only in terms of products such as plastics, films, elastomers, fibers, adhesives, and coatings but also less ob viously though none the less importantly in many leading industries (aerospace, electronics, automotive, biomedical, etc.). Well over half the chemists and chem ical engineers who graduate in the United States will at some time work in the polymer industries. If the professionals working with polymers in the other in dustries are taken into account, the overall number swells to a much greater total. It is obvious that knowledge and understanding of polymers is essential for any engineer or scientist whose professional activities involve them with these macromolecules. Not too long ago, formal education relating to polymers was very limited, indeed, almost nonexistent. Speaking from a personal viewpoint, I can recall my first job after completing my Ph.D. The job with E.I. Du Pont de Nemours dealt with polymers, an area in which I had no university training. There were no courses in polymers offered at my alma mater. My experience, incidentally, was the rule and not the exception.

Provides an overview of both the basic science composition, morphology, physical states, and properties of polymers as well as quantitative engineering tools required to design polymer systems.

Engineering of polymers is not an easy exercise: with evolving technology, it often involves complex concepts and processes. This book is intended to provide the theoretical essentials: understanding of processes, a basis for the use of design software, and much more. The necessary physical concepts such as continuum mechanics, rheological behavior and measurement methods, and thermal science with its application to heating-cooling problems and implications for flow behavior are analyzed in detail. This knowledge is then applied to key processing methods, including single-screw extrusion and extrusion die flow, twin-screw extrusion and its applications, injection molding, calendering, and processes involving stretching. With many exercises with solutions offered throughout the book to reinforce the concepts presented, and extensive illustrations, this is an essential guide for mastering the art of plastics processing. Practical and didactic, Polymer Processing: Principles and Modeling is intended for engineers and technicians of the profession, as well as for advanced students in Polymer Science and Plastics Engineering.

Exploring the chemistry of synthesis, mechanisms of polymerization, reaction engineering of step-growth and chain-growth polymerization, polymer characterization, thermodynamics and structural, mechanical, thermal and transport behavior of polymers as melts, solutions and solids, Fundamentals of Polymer Engineering, Third Edition covers essential concepts and breakthroughs in reactor design and polymer production and processing. It contains modern theories and real-world examples for a clear understanding of polymer function and development. This fully updated edition addresses new materials, applications, processing techniques, and interpretations of data in the field of polymer science. It discusses the conversion of biomass and coal to plastics and fuels, the use of porous polymers and membranes for water purification, and the use of polymeric membranes in fuel cells. Recent developments are brought to light in detail, and there are new sections on the improvement of barrier properties of polymers, constitutive equations for polymer melts, additive manufacturing and polymer recycling. This textbook is aimed at senior undergraduate students and first year graduate students in polymer engineering and science courses, as well as professional engineers, scientists, and chemists. Examples and problems are included at the end of each chapter for concept reinforcement.

Polymer Engineering 2nd edition book focuses on recyclability of thermosetting polymers, application of natural and synthetic polymers in fabric & home care products. The authors not only describe the latest developments in polymer chemistry for membrane technologies concerning energy production and storage systems but also for development of encapsulation technologies and separation processes.