Process Viscometer in Phenolic Resin Manufacturing

Viscosity is an indirect means of measuring the molecular mass of polymers. Phenolic resins have temperature-sensitive exothermic reactions so viscosity value requires observation. If the reaction occurs too quickly, the result is poor polymer quality and / or hardening. This causes huge raw material losses, extensive downtime for complicated maintenance, increased labour overhead, and delivery delays. Sometimes it requires equipment replacement at enormous costs.

Viscosity related issues in batch process polymerisation can be raw materials control, reaction start detection, polymerisation speed control, molecular weight measurement, chain length characterisation, reaction end-point detection, polymer dilution control, concentration, and finished product quality control. Good sensitivity at low viscosity and the high, full-scale range of the MIVI inline viscometer make it the perfect instrument to control viscosity in phenolic resin processes.

The installation of a MIVI sensor with alarms on a phenolic resin reactor batch process provides increased protection which avoids hardening issues. In addition, it reduces solidification to zero. Post-installation savings in a phenolic resin batch polymerisation factory usually provides ROI in approximately one year.