A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of the reactor feed stream, wherein the reactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the reactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in the reactor feed stream. A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of a precontactor feed stream, wherein the precontactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the precontactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in a precontactor effluent stream, wherein the precontactor effluent stream comprises the reactor feed stream.

A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of the reactor feed stream, wherein the reactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the reactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in the reactor feed stream. A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of a precontactor feed stream, wherein the precontactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the precontactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in a precontactor effluent stream, wherein the precontactor effluent stream comprises the reactor feed stream.

Devices and methods for controlling the properties of chemical species during time-dependent processes. A device includes a reactor for containing one or more chemical species of a time-dependent process, an extraction pump for automatically and continuously extracting an amount of the one or more chemical species from the reactor, one or more detectors for measuring property changes of the one or more extracted chemical species and generating a continuous stream of data related to the one or more property changes to the one or more chemical species during a time interval, and a process controller configured to fit the continuous stream of data to a mathematical function to predict one or more properties of the one or more chemical species at a future time point and make one or more process decisions based on the prediction of one or more properties at the future time point.

A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of the reactor feed stream, wherein the reactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the reactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in the reactor feed stream. A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of a precontactor feed stream, wherein the precontactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the precontactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in a precontactor effluent stream, wherein the precontactor effluent stream comprises the reactor feed stream.

A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of the reactor feed stream, wherein the reactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the reactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in the reactor feed stream. A method of monitoring a solid component of a reactor feed stream in a polymer production system, comprising (a) measuring a turbidity of a precontactor feed stream, wherein the precontactor feed stream comprises a solid component of a polymerization catalyst system, and (b) translating the turbidity of the precontactor feed stream into a concentration of the solid component in a precontactor effluent stream, wherein the precontactor effluent stream comprises the reactor feed stream.

A carbonylation process for producing acetic acid including: (a) carbonylating methanol or its reactive derivatives in the presence of a Group VIII metal catalyst and methyl iodide promoter to produce a liquid reaction mixture including acetic acid, water, methyl acetate and methyl iodide; (b) feeding the liquid reaction mixture at a feed temperature to a flash vessel which is maintained at a reduced pressure; (c) flashing the reaction mixture to produce a crude product vapor stream.

A method of determining multimodal polyethylene quality comprising the steps of (a) providing a multimodal polyethylene resin sample; (b) determining, in any sequence, the following: that the multimodal polyethylene resin sample has a melt index within 30% of a target melt index; that the multimodal polyethylene resin sample has a density within 2.5% of a target density; that the multimodal polyethylene resin sample has a dynamic viscosity deviation (% MVD) from a target dynamic viscosity of less than about 100%; that the multimodal polyethylene resin sample has a weight average molecular weight (M.sub.w) deviation (% M.sub.wD) from a target M.sub.w of less than about 20%; and that the multimodal polyethylene resin sample has a gel permeation chromatography (GPC) curve profile deviation (% GPCD) from a target GPC curve profile of less than about 15%; and (c) responsive to step (b), designating the multimodal polyethylene resin sample as a high quality resin.

Devices and methods for controlling the properties of chemical species during time-dependent processes. A device includes a reactor for containing one or more chemical species of a time-dependent process, an extraction pump for automatically and continuously extracting an amount of the one or more chemical species from the reactor, one or more detectors for measuring property changes of the one or more extracted chemical species and generating a continuous stream of data related to the one or more property changes to the one or more chemical species during a time interval, and a process controller configured to fit the continuous stream of data to a mathematical function to predict one or more properties of the one or more chemical species at a future time point and make one or more process decisions based on the prediction of one or more properties at the future time point.

A carbonylation process for producing acetic acid including: (a) carbonylating methanol or its reactive derivatives in the presence of a Group VIII metal catalyst and methyl iodide promoter to produce a liquid reaction mixture including acetic acid, water, methyl acetate and methyl iodide; (b) feeding the liquid reaction mixture at a feed temperature to a flash vessel which is maintained at a reduced pressure; (c) heating the flash vessel while concurrently flashing the reaction mixture to produce a crude product vapor stream, wherein the reaction mixture is selected and the flow rate of the reaction mixture fed to the flash vessel as well as the amount of heat supplied to the flash vessel is controlled such that the temperature of the crude product vapor stream is maintained at a temperature less than 90 F. cooler than the feed temperature of the liquid reaction mixture to the flasher and the concentration of acetic acid in the crude product vapor stream is greater than 70% by weight of the crude product vapor stream.

Devices and methods for controlling the properties of chemical species during time-dependent processes. A device includes a reactor for containing one or more chemical species of a time-dependent process, an extraction pump for automatically and continuously extracting an amount of the one or more chemical species from the reactor, one or more detectors for measuring property changes of the one or more extracted chemical species and generating a continuous stream of data related to the one or more property changes to the one or more chemical species during a time interval, and a process controller configured to fit the continuous stream of data to a mathematical function to predict one or more properties of the one or more chemical species at a future time point and make one or more process decisions based on the prediction of one or more properties at the future time point.