| abstract |
A process for making polymer beads by inverse suspension polymerization comprising forming aqueous monomer beads comprising an aqueous solution of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer or monomer blend and polymerizing the monomer or monomer blend forming polymer beads suspended in a non-aqueous liquid, recovering the polymer beads and subsequently purifying the non-aqueous liquid, wherein the method comprises providing a non-aqueous liquid in a vessel (1) in which the aqueous monomer Or the monomer blend forms a suspension of monomer beads, initiates polymerization to form polymer beads, takes out the suspension of polymer beads in a non-aqueous liquid from the container, and recovers water-soluble or water-swellable properties from the suspension. Polymer beads, wherein the non-aqueous liquid contains impurities comprising particles, the non-aqueous liquid from the suspension is then transferred to a purification step, wherein the purification step provides a purified non-aqueous liquid suitable for use in a reverse phase suspension polymerization process, the The purification step comprises the removal of particles from the non-aqueous liquid in at least one filtration step. The invention also relates to equipment suitable for carrying out inverse suspension polymerisation and polymer beads obtainable by the process or using the equipment. The invention further relates to a purified non-aqueous liquid obtainable by the process. |