A Comparative Study Between Design and Parameter Adjustment for Profit Maximization of Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) Production in High-Pressure Tubular Reactor

Abstract

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) market becomes increasingly competitive and profit margins are tightening, manufacturers must create solutions to optimize profit in LDPE high pressure tubular reactors. Thus, in this study, the optimization of LDPE was proposed and conducted by improving the design and parameter adjustment of the LDPE tubular reactor. A mathematical model was developed and validated with industrial data by using MATLAB R2021. Input parameter study was carried out to investigate the effect of initiator concentration (CI), monomer concentration (CM), and solvent concentration (CS) to the ethylene conversion rate, reaction temperature rate, and final product grade, respectively. The CM was identified as the most significant parameter to influence LDPE polymerization process. CM increment results in the highest reaction temperature peak, which was originating from 249.58 to 299.21oC. The highest MFI value was also obtained when the CM was increased from 0.01954 to 0.01979 mol/cm3. Then, a comparative study between design and parameter adjustment for profit maximization in LDPE High Pressure Tubular Reactor was conducted. With the profit of RM166.83 million/year, compared to RM106.83 million/year, double reaction zones demonstrates that it has much better ethylene conversion rate compared to single reaction zone with optimization.