Using resin age factor to obtain measurements of improved accuracy of one or more polymer properties with an on-line NMR system

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein said resin age factor is a function of at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of cycle time, sample temperature, and sample form.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 wherein said cycle time comprises time lapse between about the step of providing a production sample and the step of modifying the precession.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2 wherein said sample temperature comprises temperature of a sample at about the step of modifying the precession.

Claim 6

The method of claim 2 wherein said sample form is selected from the group consisting of powder form and pellet form.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 wherein said iterative technique applied to either of said free induction decay curve or said relaxation signal is selected from the group consisting of Marquardt-Levenberg, Gauss-Jordan, Newton-Raphson, and steepest descent.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 wherein said component curve equations are selected from the group consisting of Abragam, Gaussian, and exponential curve equations.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 wherein said component curve equation constants are selected from the group consisting of ratios, squares, cross products of Y-axis intercepts, and decay times.

Claim 10

The method of claim 1 wherein said property of interest is selected from the group consisting of xylene solubles, density, rubber/oil content, melt index, flow rate ratio, melt flow, and crystallinity.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 wherein said production polymer sample is selected from the group consisting of rubber, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene.

Claim 12

The method of claim 1 wherein said model generating substep (e) is accomplished by a technique selected from the group consisting of principal component regression, partial least square regression, and neural network techniques.

Claim 13

Apparatus for predicting a value of a property of a polymer sample in real time from an on-line production process, said apparatus comprising: means for storing a model useful for predicting a value of a property of interest of a production polymer sample; means for generating said model comprising means for: a) acquiring free induction decay curves for polymer samples having known values of said property of interest, b) applying an iterative technique to derive respective component curve equations from each of said free induction decay curves, c) calculating respective component curve equation constants, d) acquiring process data for said known samples, and e) generating said model using said constants, said process data, and said known values; means for providing a production sample having an unknown value of said property of interest; means for applying a base magnetic field to the production sample to effect precession of nuclei of the production sample; means for modifying the precession; means for receiving a resulting relaxation signal representative of a free induction decay of nuclei of the production sample; means for digitizing said relaxation signal; means for applying an iterative technique to derive respective component curve equations from said relaxation signal; means for calculating respective component curve equation constants; means for acquiring process data for said production sample; and means for applying said constants and said process data to said model to predict the value of the property of interest, wherein said process data comprises a resin age factor.

Claim 14

Apparatus for predicting a value of a property of a polymer sample in real time from an on-line production process, said apparatus comprising: means for storing a model useful for predicting a value of a property of interest of a production polymer sample; means for generating said model comprising means for: a) acquiring free induction decay curves for polymer samples having known values of said property of interest, b) applying an iterative technique to derive respective component curve equations from each of said free induction decay curves, c) calculating respective component curve equation constants, d) acquiring process data for said known samples, and e) generating said model using said constants, said process data, and said known values; means for providing a production sample having an unknown value of said property of interest; means for applying a base magnetic field to the production sample to effect precession of nuclei of the production sample; means for modifying the precession; means for receiving a resulting relaxation signal representative of a free induction decay of nuclei of the production sample; means for digitizing said relaxation signal; means for applying an iterative technique to derive respective component curve equations from said relaxation signal; means for calculating respective component curve equation constants; means for acquiring process data for said production sample; and means for applying said constants and said process data to said model to predict the value of the property of interest, wherein said process data comprises a resin age factor.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said resin age factor is a function of at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of cycle time, sample temperature, and sample form.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said cycle time comprises time lapse between about when the production sample is provided and when the precession is modified.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said sample temperature comprises temperature of a sample at about the time the precession is modified.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said sample form is selected from the group consisting of powder form and pellet form.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said iterative technique applied to either of said free induction decay curve or said relaxation signal is selected from the group consisting of Marquardt-Levenberg, Gauss-Jordan, Newton-Raphson, and steepest descent.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said component curve equations are selected from the group consisting of Abragain, Gaussian, and exponential curve equations.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said component curve equation constants are selected from the group consisting of ratios, squares, cross products of Y-axis intercepts, and decay times.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said property of interest is selected from the group consisting of xylene solubles, density, rubber/oil content, melt index, flow rate ratio, melt flow, and crystallinity.

Claim 23

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said production polymer sample is selected from the group consisting of rubber, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene.

Claim 24

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said means for generating said model utilizes a technique selected from the group consisting of principal component regression, partial least square regression, and neural network techniques.