Sara González González receives the Best Contribution Award at the 14th Workshop on PRE

POLYMAT PhD candidate Sara González González received the Best Contribution Award at the 14th PhD-Student Workshop on Polymer Reaction Engineering, held in Potsdam, Germany, from 5 to 7 September 2026.

González presented “Strategies for Controlled Latex Particle Coagulation incorporating CFD analysis”, co-authored with Miren Aguirre, as both an oral contribution and a scientific poster.

The study investigates strategies to control the coagulation of PMMA latex particles while minimising reactor fouling and obtaining narrow particle-size distributions and homogeneous aggregate morphologies. Experimental coagulation trials were combined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to assess how temperature, salt concentration and shear conditions influence particle arrangement and bulk density.

The results show that careful control of the operating conditions can improve coagulation homogeneity and powder properties. The CFD model also reproduced the experimental reactor’s average shear conditions and helped identify local variations near the impeller blades and reactor walls.

The award recognises the quality and relevance of Sara’s contribution to polymer reaction engineering. Congratulations, Sara!