Process for feeding a polymerisation catalyst

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a process for feeding a polymerisation catalyst into a polymerisation reactor (7), comprising the steps of: (i) maintaining a catalyst slurry comprising a diluent and a solid catalyst component in a catalyst feed vessel (4); (ii) continuously withdrawing a stream of the catalyst slurry from the catalyst feed vessel (4); and (iii) introducing the withdrawn portion of the catalyst slurry into the polymerisation reactor (7), wherein the catalyst slurry is transferred by using a valveless piston pump (5) from the catalyst feed vessel (4) into the polymerisation reactor (7); the diluent has a dynamic viscosity of from 0.01 to 20 mPas at the conditions within the catalyst feed vessel (4), and wherein the catalyst slurry is transferred along a substantially vertical path downwards from the catalyst feed vessel (4) to the reactor (7).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.