Nalco Chemical Company

Mary E Bingham

Kenneth G Phillips

This invention relates to a method for the hydrolysis of acrylamide polymers utilizing less than stoichiometric amounts of a hydrolysis agent selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides and alkali metal sulfites. The process is conducted with a water-in-oil emulsion (latex) of the acrylamide polymer at an elevated temperature and pressure.

Hydrolysis of acrylamide polymers

A method of producing a water-in-oil emulsion of ammonium polyacrylate which comprises polymerizing a water-in-oil emulsion of ammonium acrylate in the presence of a water-in-oil emulsifier, and a free radical polymerization catalyst with the amount of oil initially present in said emulsion being at least 15% by weight, continuing said polymerization until substantially all of the ammonium acrylate has polymerized to form ammonium polyacrylate, allowing a major portion of the oil in the oil phase of the emulsion to separate as a polymer-free upper layer, thus leaving as a lower layer a water-in-oil emulsion of ammonium polyacrylate, which emulsion contains less than 10% by weight of oil. Also described are the polymeric emulsions produced using the above described method.

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Palos Hills, IL, United States of America

Mary E Bingham