Amoco polyethylene process

In gas phase processes, gaseous propylene comes into contact with the solid catalyst which is intimately dispersed in dry pol5aner powder. Industry uses two different methods of carrying out this reaction depending on the chosen method of heat removal. The Unipol PP process uses a modification of the Unipol polyethylene fluidised bed system. The Novolen PP process and Innovene PP process use mechanically agitated dry powder beds with evaporative cooling in vertical and horizontal reactors, respectively. Unipol PP was originally developed by Union Carbide and Shell, the Novolen PP process by BASF and the Innovene PP process by Amoco. 

At about the same time that news of the Ziegler discovery was released, the Phillips Petroleum Company in the United States atmounced that it had developed a medium-pressure, catalytic process (500 psig) to produce a high-density, crystalline polyethylene. The process was discovered when traces of ethylene in a flue gas had polymerized over conventional cracking catalysts. The Phillips catalyst contained chromic oxide supported on silica. The Standard Oil Company of Indiana (later Amoco) also introduced a medium pressure process using a catalyst comprising molybdenum oxide supported on carbon or alumina, but it did not enjoy the success of the Ziegler or Phillips processes and was only operated in three full-scale plants. ... 

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