Mathematical versus commercial software modeling for Ziegler-Natta catalyzed gas-phase polymerization in fluidized-bed reactors: A comparative review and proposals for future developments

Integrating different influencing aspects in Ziegler-Natta catalyzed gas-phase polymerization industrial fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) is challenging and requires new modeling techniques with high-performance computational software. Many models in the literature during development use assumptions or approximations for some of these aspects to simplify their complexity, which makes them prone to criticism. The current review analyzes these aspects that should be considered during such modeling. A critique of the mathematical and commercial software models published in the literature is consequently presented. To generate a rigorous model capable of representing different scale levels aspects of FBRs using Aspen Plus software, two innovative modeling techniques are presented to exploit the software capabilities and mitigate the absence of hydrodynamic models in its library. These techniques integrate the merits of the mathematical and commercial software models while acting as a guideline to leverage high-performance computational software for more accurate solutions while modeling such polymerizations systems.