Process for the production of water and solvent-free polymers

摘要

The present invention relates to water and solvent-free polymers, in particular water and solvent-free synthetic rubber products like non-halogenated and halogenated butyl rubber products as well as a process for the production thereof. The invention further relates to a device suitable to accomplish said process.

主权项

1. A process for removing volatile compounds from a fluid comprising at least one synthetic rubber and at least one volatile compound, the process comprising:
a) heating the fluid to a first temperature to form a heated fluid, and removing a portion of the volatile compounds from the heated fluid via vacuum in a degassing vessel at a first pressure to obtain a free-flowing concentrated fluid, wherein the first pressure and first temperature are configured to obtain a concentrated fluid comprising 10-60 wt % non-volatile polymer and 40-90 wt % volatile compounds; b) reheating the concentrated fluid to a second temperature to obtain a reheated free-flowing concentrated fluid; and c) extruding the reheated concentrated fluid in an extruder comprising at least one degassing section, and removing at least an additional portion of the volatile compounds from the reheated concentrated fluid via vacuum in the at least one degassing section at a second pressure to obtain a non-volatile polymer product having a content of volatile compounds of less than 0.5 wt % water and less than 0.75 wt % volatile organic compounds based on the total mass of the non-volatile polymer.