We are a group of Chemical Engineering undergraduate students, at Instituto Superior Técnico, in Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, in Portugal, and we are doing our Final Project under the theme: Recycling poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) that concerns the recovery of methyl methacrylate and also the continuous manufacture of acrylic casting sheets by the process involving the machine described in the patent US 4133861, witch refers the process for continuous manufacture of methyl methacrylate polymer plate by Tetsuji Kato. We are having some problems in finding who procudes these kind of machine. Any help is welcome. Filipa,Raquel,Catarina and Manoel
Casting PMMA sheets
Oct 24, 2003
5 Replies
Having a patent does not mean art is being practiced. Besides, as chem e students, you should build your own. FYI there is nothing new in continuous casting of PMMA. Frank
The patent assignee does have continuous casting process technology. I have no idea if they are using their patent but it seems someone could find that out (or whether they have licensed the patent) with a quick phone call.
US patent 4133861 was assigned to Mitsubishi Rayon of Japan. In the 1980s Mitsubishi Rayon manufactured continuously cast sheet, and licensed their technology. ?Acrylic Sheet (SHINKOLITE)? is shown on their web-site, which probably means that they continue to manufacture PMMA.
I suspect that there may be a number of patents assigned to Mitsubishi Rayon on PMMA casting. They may, or may not, have used the technology in US4133861. I believe that Mitsubishi manufactured the casting lines used in their process. My guess is that one of these commercial casting lines would cost millions of dollars. But, one can cast PMMA syrup between glass or SS plates. You may want to consult the book "Preparative Methods of Polymer Chemistry" by Sorenson and Campbell (available on Amazon.com).
Ernie
We are already trying to discover if this continuous casting device is in use. As you understand undergratuate students have some problems to accede to this kind of information.
We also have some issues to solve concernig the production of the pre-polimerized MMA-PMMA syrup because we hadn't find patents directly related to this process. Our problems are:
-if the process should be continuous or descontinuous
-who to determine the best % of polymerization
-the amount of initiator,chain transfer agent and others additives to use
-The reaction conditions (Temperature, pressure,...) Any kind of help or indication of bibliographic references is welcome
Filipa, Raquel, Catarina and Manoel
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