PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PREPARING COPOLYAMIDES FROM LACTAMS AND SALTS OF DIAMINES AND DICARBOXYLIC ACIDS

摘要

A process for continuously preparing copolyamides from lactams and salts of diamines and dicarboxylic acids, in which lactams are passed together with salts of diamines and dicarboxylic acids from the top downward through a vertical polymerization tube at polyamide-forming temperatures, is characterized in that a) an aqueous solution of lactams is mixed intensively with salts of diamines and dicarboxylic acids under elevated pressure which is greater than the vapor pressure of the mixture which forms in a mixing apparatus at a temperature of 80 to 300°C, b) the mixture thus obtained is supplied to a heated helical tube evaporator in which a liquid phase and a vapor phase form at a temperature of 140 to 300°C, a stream of steam and/or inert gas optionally being introduced into the mixture upstream of the helical tube, c) the vapor phase formed in stage b) is removed from the liquid phase and separated in a column into steam and into organic components comprising diamines, dicarboxylic acids and lactams, and the organic components are recycled into the polymerization, d) the liquid phase from the helical tube of stage b), mixed with the organic components of stage c), is passed from the top downward through a vertical polymerization tube at polyamide-forming temperatures to obtain a copolyamide.