Published December 2010
In this review, the emulsion/mass process to produce acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins is updated based on recent patents. In this process, ABS resin is prepared from a blend of styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) and graft ABS resin. SAN is produced by bulk or mass polymerization of styrene and acrylonitrile. An emulsion polymerization process is used to produce polybutadiene latex. Styrene and acrylonitrile are then co-polymerized in the presence of the polybutadiene latex by an emulsion polymerization process to form graft ABS resin. SAN and graft ABS resins are melt-compounded and pelletized to form the ABS product. The process economics are based on the production of 331 million lb/yr (150,000 metric tons/yr) of ABS product.
