POLYMERIZATION PROCESS

• Main Authors: LEE, James H, TOPLISS, Robert, BEARDSLEY, William E, STEPHENS, William D
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 16.10.2024
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVINGCARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS; METALLURGY; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP

The present invention relates to the polymerisation of one or more monomers in a gas phase reactor, and in particular provides a process for from the polymerisation of one or more monomers in a horizontal stirred bed gas phase reactor, wherein the process comprises:a. Polymerising a mixture comprising one or more monomers and hydrogen in the reactor to produce the polymer,b. Withdrawing from the reactor a gaseous stream,c. Passing the gaseous stream to a condenser in which it is partly condensed to produce a liquid phase and a remaining vapour phase,d. Passing the mixture of liquid phase and remaining vapour from the condenser to a separator in which there is maintained a liquid phase and a vapour phase, the volume of the liquid phase in the separator being a percentage, X, which is between 10 and 80% of the total volume of the separator,e. And recycling both liquid and vapour from the separator to the reactor, the mass rate of liquid returning to the reactor being L and the mass rate of vapour returning to the reactor being V, the two defining a ratio V/L,characterised in that the hydrogen concentration in the reactor is changed and the change is effected at least in part by changing the V/L ratio by at least 10% and/or by changing the volume, X.