POLYMER COMPOSITION AND PROCESS TO MANUFACTURE HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT-HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE AND FILM THEREFROM

• Main Authors: WILLIAM J. MICHIE, JR, ANTHONY C. NEUBAUER, BRAD A. COBLER
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 31.01.2012
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVINGCARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS; METALLURGY; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ARTCOLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

THE PRESENT INVENTION INCLUDES A MULTIMODAL POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITION HAS (1) A DENSITY OF AT LEAST 0.940 G/CM³ AS MEASURED BY ASTM METHOD D-1505; (2) A MELT FLOW INDEX (I5 ) OF FROM 0.2 TO 1.5 G/10 MIN (AS MEASURED BY ASTM D-1238, MEASURED AT 190°C AND 5 KILOGRAMS); (3) A MELT FLOW INDEX RATIO (I21/I5) OF FROM 20 TO 50; (4) A MOLECULAR WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION,MW/MN, OF FROM 20 TO 40 ; (5) A BUBBLE STABILITY MEASURED ON SPECIFIED EQUIPMENT ACCORDING TO SPECIFIED CONDITIONS FOR A FILM OF 6 X 10-6 M THICKNESS OF AT ;EAST 1.22 M/S LINE SPEED, AT LEAST 45 KG/HR (0.013 KG/SEC ) OUTPUT RATE, OR AT LEAST 0.5 IB/HR/RPM (0.0000011 KG/S/RPS) SPECIFIC OUTPUT RATE OR A COMBINATION THEREOF; THE COMPOSITION COMPRISING; AND (6) A DART IMPACT ON 12.5 MICRON (1.25 X 10-5 M) FILM OF AT LEAST 300 G;MEASURED ACCORDING TO ASTM 1709, METHOD A; (A) A HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT FRACTION WHICH; (A) IS PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT OF FROM 30 TO 70 WEIGHT PERCENT (BASED ON THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF THE COMPOSITION);(B) HAS A DENSITY OF AT LEAST 0.860 G/CM³ AS MEASURED BY ASTM D-1505; (C) HAS A MELT FLOW INDEX (I21) OF FROM 0.01 TO 50 G/10 MIN ( AS MEASURED BY ASTM D-1238, MEASURED AT 190°C AND 21.6 KILOGRAMS); AND (D) A MELT FLOW INDEX RATIO (I21/I15) OF FROM 6 TO 12; AND (B) A LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT FRACTION WHICH, (A) IS PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT OF FROM 30 TO 70 WEIGHT PERCENT (BASED ON THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF THE COMPOSITION); (B) HAS A DENSITY OF AT LEAST 0.900 G/CM3 AS MEASURED BY ASTM D-1505 ; (C) HAS A MELT FLOW INDEX (I2) OF FROM 0.5 TO 3000 G/10 MIN (AS MEASURED BY ASTM D-1238, MEASURED AT 190°C AND 2.16 KILOGRAMS); (D) A MELT FLOW INDEX RATIO (I21/I5) OF FROM 5 TO 15; AND (E) IS PREPARED USING A MOLE RATIO OF ALPHA OLEFIN TO ETHYLENE OF LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 0.001:1. THE INVENTION ALSO INCLUDES A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A MULTIMODAL ETHYLENE POLYMER, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES THE FOLLOWING STEPS: (1) CONTACTING IN A FIRST GAS PHASE FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR UNDER POLYMERIZATION CONDITIONS AND AT A TEMPERATURE.