{"id":3117,"date":"2026-08-06T15:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/?post_type=case-study&p=3117"},"modified":"2026-08-06T15:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:46:09","slug":"wyznaczanie-punktu-koncowego-polikondensacji-zywic-uf-muf-w-czasie-rze","status":"publish","type":"case-study","link":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/case-study\/wyznaczanie-punktu-koncowego-polikondensacji-zywic-uf-muf-w-czasie-rze\/","title":{"rendered":"Real-time determination of the polycondensation endpoint of resins (UF\/MUF)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Industry<\/dt>\n
Production of urea-melamine resins (UF\/MUF)<\/dd>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Scope<\/dt>\n
Inline determination of the polycondensation endpoint<\/dd>\n<\/div>\n<\/dl>\n

Client context<\/h2>\n

In the production of amino resins (UF, MUF), viscosity increases as polycondensation progresses, and the moment of reaction termination determines batch quality and safety. Offline measurement reflects the state from several to over a dozen minutes earlier, which, given fast kinetics, can be too late.<\/p>\n

Delayed reaction termination risks uncontrolled viscosity growth, batch loss, and reactor blockage. The manufacturer required a product reference and reaction endpoint time indication for process control.<\/p>\n

Challenge.<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • The reaction endpoint was assessed via manual offline rotational viscosity measurement, with information delay (dead time).<\/li>\n
  • Risk of gelation and reactor blockage if cooling is initiated too late.<\/li>\n
  • Manual sampling from a hot reactor exposes workers to formaldehyde vapors.<\/li>\n
  • Lack of parameter repeatability between batches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Solution<\/h2>\n

    The Spectrally\u2122 X1 with an immersion probe tracks polycondensation progress directly in the reactor. In the feasibility study, we developed a preliminary measurement procedure for a product reference and reaction endpoint indication.<\/p>\n

    For operation in the dense reactor medium, the probe utilizes a self-cleaning, retractable module (Retractex): it periodically retracts from the medium, flushes the optical window, and returns to measurement, maintaining a stable signal without manual cleaning during the batch.<\/p>\n

    Results<\/h2>\n
    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Metric<\/th>\nResult<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    Polycondensation reaction endpoint<\/td>\nPreliminary inline procedure developed (feasibility study, partial result)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Benefit<\/td>\nAvoidance of gelation and reactor blockage, batch repeatability<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Current method (offline)<\/td>\nManual sampling + rotational viscosity, dead time on the order of over a dozen minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

    Feasibility study result; client anonymized.<\/p>\n

    What this means for your process<\/h2>\n

    If you conduct batch polycondensation of UF\/MUF resins, inline reaction endpoint indication allows you to hit the process window, avoid gelation, and stabilize quality between batches, instead of controlling based on delayed laboratory viscosity.<\/p>\n

    The most reliable path to verification on a specific process is a pilot trial preceded by a short feasibility study.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a feasibility study at a manufacturer of urea-melamine resins, we developed an inline indication of the polycondensation reaction endpoint, replacing manual viscosity measurement after the fact.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3131,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","industry-grid":""},"class_list":["post-3117","case-study","type-case-study","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case-study"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study\/3117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3161,"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study\/3117\/revisions\/3161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gekkophotonics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"entry","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}