What Is Polyacrylamide (PAM)?
Polyacrylamide (PAM) is a linear water-soluble polymer and one of the most widely used water treatment chemicals in modern industry. Thanks to its excellent flocculation, sedimentation, thickening, paper strengthening, and drag reduction properties, PAM has become an essential chemical in municipal wastewater treatment, industrial water treatment, paper manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, mining, coal washing, metallurgy, textile processing, and construction.
As environmental regulations become stricter and industries continue to expand, the global demand for Polyacrylamide flocculants continues to grow. Increasing investments in wastewater treatment plants, paper mills, petrochemical facilities, and mineral processing are driving the demand for high-performance Anionic Polyacrylamide (APAM) products.
Production Technologies of Anionic Polyacrylamide (APAM)
There are two mainstream manufacturing methods for Anionic Polyacrylamide:
- Copolymerization Process
- Post-Hydrolysis Process
Both production technologies utilize an AIBN (Azobisisobutyronitrile) redox initiation system to initiate polymerization. During production, Sodium Bisulfite is added to eliminate residual acrylamide monomers, allowing the monomer conversion rate to exceed 99.9%, resulting in high-purity PAM products with extremely low residual monomer content.
1. Copolymerization Process of Anionic Polyacrylamide
The copolymerization process uses Acrylamide (AM) and Sodium Acrylate as the primary raw materials. Under catalytic conditions, the two monomers undergo copolymerization to form Anionic Polyacrylamide (APAM) with a predetermined charge density.
After polymerization, the product can be:
- Formulated directly into liquid Anionic Polyacrylamide
- Processed into powder Anionic Polyacrylamide through granulation, drying, crushing, screening, and packaging
Typical Production Flow
Raw Material Preparation → Polymerization → Granulation → Liquid Formulation or Drying → Crushing & Screening → Finished Product Packaging
Advantages of the Copolymerization Process
- Precise control of anionic charge density
- Excellent molecular weight stability
- High flocculation efficiency
- Consistent product quality
- Suitable for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, mining, paper making, and sludge dewatering
2. Post-Hydrolysis Process of Anionic Polyacrylamide
In the post-hydrolysis process, Acrylamide is first polymerized into Nonionic Polyacrylamide (NPAM). Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is then added to hydrolyze part of the amide groups, converting the polymer into Anionic Polyacrylamide.
The modified polymer is subsequently granulated, dried, crushed, screened, and packaged to produce the final powder product.
Typical Production Flow
Raw Material Preparation → Polymerization → Primary Granulation → Post-Hydrolysis Modification → Secondary Granulation → Drying → Crushing & Screening → Finished Product Packaging
Advantages of the Post-Hydrolysis Process
- Mature and cost-effective manufacturing technology
- Flexible production process
- Suitable for producing medium- and low-charge anionic polyacrylamide
- Widely used in wastewater treatment, mineral processing, paper mills, and oilfield applications
Professional Polyacrylamide Manufacturer
As a professional Polyacrylamide (PAM) manufacturer and supplier, we provide a complete range of Anionic Polyacrylamide (APAM), Cationic Polyacrylamide (CPAM), Nonionic Polyacrylamide (NPAM), and Amphoteric Polyacrylamide products for global customers.
Our PAM products are widely applied in:
- Municipal wastewater treatment
- Industrial wastewater treatment
- Sludge dewatering
- Drinking water clarification
- Paper and pulp manufacturing
- Mining and mineral processing
- Coal washing plants
- Oilfield drilling and enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
- Textile and dyeing industries
- Construction and tunneling projects
We offer customized molecular weight, ionic charge density, viscosity, and dissolution performance to meet different application requirements worldwide.
