Process for fluid phase in-line blending of polymers
First Claim
1. An in-line blending process for polymers comprising:
- (a) providing two or more reactor trains configured in parallel and a high-pressure separator downstream fluidly connected to the two or more reactor trains configured in parallel;
(b) contacting in the two or more reactor trains configured in parallel
1) olefin monomers having two or more carbon atoms
2) one or more catalyst systems,
3) optional one or more comonomers,
4) optional one or more scavengers, and
5) optional one or more inert diluents or inert solvents,wherein the polymerization system for at least one of the reactor trains configured in parallel is at a temperature above the solid-fluid phase transition temperature, at a pressure no lower than 10 MPa below the cloud point pressure and less than 1500 MPa, is in its dense fluid state, and is above its critical temperature and critical pressure,wherein at least one of the reactor trains includes an olefin monomer that has three or more carbon atoms,wherein the polymerization system for each reactor train comprises the olefin monomers, any comonomer present, any inert diluent or inert solvent present, any scavenger present, and the polymer product,wherein the catalyst system for each reactor train comprises one or more catalyst precursors, one or more activators, and optionally, one or more catalyst supports;
wherein the one or more catalyst systems are chosen from Ziegler Natta catalysts, metallocene catalysts, nonmetallocene metal-centered, heteroaryl ligand catalysts, late transition metal catalysts, and combinations thereof;
(c) forming a reactor effluent including a homogeneous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture in each parallel reactor train;
(d) combining the reactor effluent comprising the homogeneous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture from each parallel reactor train to form a combined reactor effluent;
(e) passing the combined reactor effluent through the high-pressure separator for product blending and product-feed separation;
(f) maintaining the temperature and pressure within the high-pressure separator above the solid-fluid phase transition point but below the cloud point pressure and temperature to form a fluid-fluid two-phase system comprising a polymer-rich blend phase and a monomer-rich phase; and
(g) separating the monomer-rich phase from the polymer-rich blend phase to form a polymer blend and a separated monomer-rich phase.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A process for fluid phase in-line blending of polymers. The process includes providing two or more reactor trains configured in parallel and a separator for product blending and product-feed separation; contacting in at least one of the parallel reactor trains olefin monomers having three or more carbon atoms, catalyst systems, optional comonomers, optional scavengers, and optional inert diluents or inert solvents, at a temperature above the solid-fluid phase transition temperature of the polymerization system and a pressure no lower than 10 MPa below the cloud point pressure of the polymerization system and less than 1500 MPa; forming a reactor effluent including a homogeneous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture in each parallel reactor train; combining the reactor effluent from each parallel reactor; passing the combined reactor effluent through the separator; maintaining the temperature and pressure within the separator above the solid-fluid phase transition point but below the cloud point pressure and temperature to form a fluid-fluid two-phase system including a polymer-rich blend phase and a monomer-rich phase; and separating the monomer-rich phase from the polymer-rich blend phase. The separated monomer-rich phase is recycled to the polymerization reactor bank. The polymer-rich blend phase is conveyed to a downstream finishing stage for further monomer stripping, drying and/or pelletizing to form a polymer product blend.
117 Citations
62 Claims
-
1. An in-line blending process for polymers comprising:
-
(a) providing two or more reactor trains configured in parallel and a high-pressure separator downstream fluidly connected to the two or more reactor trains configured in parallel; (b) contacting in the two or more reactor trains configured in parallel
1) olefin monomers having two or more carbon atoms
2) one or more catalyst systems,
3) optional one or more comonomers,
4) optional one or more scavengers, and
5) optional one or more inert diluents or inert solvents,wherein the polymerization system for at least one of the reactor trains configured in parallel is at a temperature above the solid-fluid phase transition temperature, at a pressure no lower than 10 MPa below the cloud point pressure and less than 1500 MPa, is in its dense fluid state, and is above its critical temperature and critical pressure, wherein at least one of the reactor trains includes an olefin monomer that has three or more carbon atoms, wherein the polymerization system for each reactor train comprises the olefin monomers, any comonomer present, any inert diluent or inert solvent present, any scavenger present, and the polymer product, wherein the catalyst system for each reactor train comprises one or more catalyst precursors, one or more activators, and optionally, one or more catalyst supports; wherein the one or more catalyst systems are chosen from Ziegler Natta catalysts, metallocene catalysts, nonmetallocene metal-centered, heteroaryl ligand catalysts, late transition metal catalysts, and combinations thereof; (c) forming a reactor effluent including a homogeneous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture in each parallel reactor train; (d) combining the reactor effluent comprising the homogeneous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture from each parallel reactor train to form a combined reactor effluent; (e) passing the combined reactor effluent through the high-pressure separator for product blending and product-feed separation; (f) maintaining the temperature and pressure within the high-pressure separator above the solid-fluid phase transition point but below the cloud point pressure and temperature to form a fluid-fluid two-phase system comprising a polymer-rich blend phase and a monomer-rich phase; and (g) separating the monomer-rich phase from the polymer-rich blend phase to form a polymer blend and a separated monomer-rich phase. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. An in-line blending process for polymers comprising:
-
(a) providing two or more reactor trains configured in parallel and two or more high-pressure separators fluidly connected to the two or more reactor trains configured in parallel; (b) contacting in the two or more reactor trains configured in parallel
1) olefin monomers having two or more carbon atoms
2) one or more catalyst systems,
3) optional one or more comonomers,
4) optional one or more scavengers, and
5) optional one or more inert diluents or inert solvents,wherein the polymerization system for at least one of the reactor trains configured in parallel is at a temperature above the solid-fluid phase transition temperature, at a pressure no lower than 10 MPa below the cloud point pressure and less than 1500 MPa, is in its dense fluid state, and is above its critical temperature and critical pressure, wherein at least one of the reactor trains includes an olefin monomer that has three or more carbon atoms, wherein the polymerization system for each reactor train comprises the olefin monomers, any comonomer present, any inert diluent or inert solvent present, any scavenger present, and the polymer product, wherein the catalyst system for each reactor train comprises one or more catalyst precursors, one or more activators, and optionally, one or more catalyst supports; wherein the one or more catalyst systems are chosen from Ziegler Natta catalysts, metallocene catalysts, nonmetallocene metal-centered, heteroaryl ligand catalysts, late transition metal catalysts, and combinations thereof; (c) forming an unreduced reactor effluent including a homogenous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture in each parallel reactor train; (d) passing the unreduced reactor effluents from one or more but not from all of the parallel reactor trains through one or more high-pressure separators, maintaining the temperature and pressure within the one or more high-pressure separators above the solid-fluid phase transition point but below the cloud point pressure and temperature to form one or more fluid-fluid two-phase systems with each two-phase system comprising a polymer-enriched phase and a monomer-rich phase, and separating the monomer-rich phase from the polymer-enriched phase in each of the one or more high-pressure separators to form one or more separated monomer-rich phases and one or more polymer-enriched phases; (e) combining the one or more polymer-enriched phases from the one or more high-pressure separators of (d) with the one or more unreduced reactor effluents from one or more parallel reactor trains to form a mixture of one or more polymer-enriched phases and the one or more unreduced reactor effluents from the one or more parallel reactor trains to form a combined effluent stream that comprises the polymeric blend components from all parallel reactor trains; (f) passing the combined effluent stream of (e) into another high-pressure separator for product blending and product-feed separation; (g) maintaining the temperature and pressure within the another high pressure separator of (f) above the solid-fluid phase transition point but below the cloud point pressure and temperature to form a fluid-fluid two-phase system comprising a polymer-rich blend phase and a monomer-rich phase; and (h) separating the monomer-rich phase from the polymer-rich blend phase to form a polymer blend and a separated monomer-rich phase. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
-
- 49. The process of 32 further comprising feeding the polymer blend of (h) to a coupled devolatizer to further separate other volatiles from the polymer blend to form a polymer product blend.
Specification