Pilot Plant Designs for Particle-Form Reactors - Development History

5 Pilot Plant Designs For Particle-Form Reactors -Development History [24] 

Mixing of the slurry solution to maintain the suspension of the polymer particles in the pentane to prevent fouling of the reactor walls was the primary problem found in operating the CSTR over extended periods. 

As discussed above, it was clear that ethylene/1-butene copolymers possessed significantly improved mechanical properties compared to ethylene homopolymer products, so that a commercial particle-form reactor design was needed that could provide polyethylene copolymers over a range of Flow Index values with sustained operability over extended periods of time without reactor shut down. Adding 1 -butene to the polymerization process made the autoclave stirred tank reactor even more difficult to operate, as reactor wall fouling problems persisted and in some cases polymer particle morphology was reduced due to some polymer components becoming soluble in the n-pentane. 

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