High solids slurry polymerization
First Claim
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1. A process comprising:
- polymerizing, in a loop reaction zone, at least one olefin monomer in a liquid diluent to produce a fluid slurry comprising liquid diluent and solid olefin polymer particles;
continuously withdrawing a portion of the slurry, comprising withdrawn liquid diluent and withdrawn solid polymer particles, as an intermediate product of said process;
passing the intermediate product of said process through a heated conduit to a first flash zone; and
exposing the intermediate product of said process to a pressure drop in the first flash zone, whereby a majority of the liquid diluent from the intermediate product is vaporized, producing a concentrated intermediate product and vaporized diluent;
wherein the rate of said continuously withdrawing is controlled so as to maintain the total reactor pressure within designated set points.
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Abstract
An olefin polymerization process wherein monomer, diluent and catalyst are circulated in a continuous loop reactor and product slurry is recovered by means of a continuous product take off. The continuous product allows operating the reaction at significantly higher solids content in the circulating slurry. In a preferred embodiment, the slurry is heated in a flash line heater and passed to a high pressure flash where a majority of the diluent is separated and thereafter condensed by simple heat exchange, without compression, and thereafter recycled. Also an olefin polymerization process operating at higher reactor solids by virtue of more aggressive circulation.
115 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A process comprising:
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polymerizing, in a loop reaction zone, at least one olefin monomer in a liquid diluent to produce a fluid slurry comprising liquid diluent and solid olefin polymer particles;
continuously withdrawing a portion of the slurry, comprising withdrawn liquid diluent and withdrawn solid polymer particles, as an intermediate product of said process;
passing the intermediate product of said process through a heated conduit to a first flash zone; and
exposing the intermediate product of said process to a pressure drop in the first flash zone, whereby a majority of the liquid diluent from the intermediate product is vaporized, producing a concentrated intermediate product and vaporized diluent;
wherein the rate of said continuously withdrawing is controlled so as to maintain the total reactor pressure within designated set points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A process comprising:
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polymerizing, in a loop reaction zone, at least one olefin monomer in a liquid diluent to produce a fluid slurry comprising liquid diluent and solid olefin polymer particles;
continuously withdrawing a portion of the slurry comprising withdrawn liquid diluent and withdrawn solid polymer particles as an intermediate product of said process;
passing the intermediate product of said process through a heated conduit to a first flash zone; and
exposing the intermediate product of said process to a pressure drop in the first flash zone, whereby a majority of the liquid diluent from the intermediate product is vaporized, producing a concentrated intermediate product and vaporized diluent;
wherein the amount of heat supplied to the intermediate product is at least sufficient to effect the vaporization of a majority of the liquid in the intermediate product in the flash. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A process comprising:
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polymerizing at least one monomer in liquid diluent in a slurry reactor to produce a slurry of polymer solids in a liquid medium;
continuously discharging a portion of the slurry from the slurry reactor as polymerization effluent;
heating the polymerization effluent; and
flashing the heated polymerization effluent in a first flash to vaporize a majority of the liquid in the polymerization effluent to produce concentrated polymer effluent and vaporized liquid;
wherein the rate of discharge of the polymerization effluent from the slurry reactor is such as to maintain the total reactor pressure within designated set points. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A process comprising:
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polymerizing at least one monomer in liquid diluent in a slurry reactor to produce a slurry of polymer solids in a liquid medium;
continuously discharging a portion of the slurry from the slurry reactor as polymerization effluent;
heating the polymerization effluent; and
flashing the heated polymerization effluent in a first flash to vaporize a majority of the liquid in the polymerization effluent; and
wherein the amount of heat supplied to the polymerization effluent is at least sufficient to effect the vaporization of a majority of the liquid in the polymerization effluent in the flash. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification