Control of fouling in high pressure polyethylene manufacture

A high pressure polyethylene polymerization process comprising:

• a. providing a feed stream comprising ethylene;
• b. compressing the feed stream in a primary compressor;
• c. further compressing the feed stream in a secondary compressor, wherein the secondary compressor comprises a first stage and a second stage, and wherein the first stage and second stage each comprise at least two cylinders and discharge pipes, and the discharge pipes of the at least two cylinders of the first stage are fluidly connected by a first stage discharge cross-connect pipe;
• d. cooling the compressed feed stream at a location within 10 meters downstream of the first stage discharge cross-connect pipe;
• and
• e. feeding the compressed feed stream to a polymerization reactor.