This invention relates to the field of
polystyrene devolatilization technology, and particularly to a supercritical-
supergravity coupled deep devolatilization device and method for
polystyrene. The device includes a five-reactor
polymerization reactor, a devolatilization preheater, a
supercritical fluid system, a first devolatilizer, an intermediate
gear pump, a second devolatilizer, a
discharge gear pump, and an independent vacuum
system. The five-reactor
polymerization reactor, the devolatilization preheater, the first devolatilizer, the intermediate
gear pump, the second devolatilizer, and the
discharge gear pump are connected sequentially. The
supercritical fluid system is connected before the first devolatilizer. The second devolatilizer includes a sealed shell and a rotatable annular packed rotor, with a packing layer inside the annular packed rotor. The independent vacuum system is connected to both the first and second devolatilizers. This invention has the following advantages: it couples the plasticizing and
diffusion-enhancing characteristics of supercritical fluids with the forced film-forming and renewing characteristics of
supergravity to
polystyrene devolatilization, solving the
mass transfer
bottleneck that is difficult to overcome by a single method.