Production of 1-butene and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsOla S. Ali, Wei Xu, Hussain Al Yami, Faisal Melebari
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for producing 1-butene and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), including feeding a catalyst, an antifouling co-catalyst, and ethylene to a reactor, and dimerizing ethylene into 1-butene and polymerizing a relatively small portion of the ethylene into UHMWPE. A product slurry including 1-butene and UHMWPE is discharged from reactor and UHMWPE is removed from the product slurry as a coproduct of the product 1-butene. The coproduct UHMWPE may be a byproduct that is a relatively small amount of the product slurry. The quantity of UHMWPE produced may be small in comparison to the quantity of 1-butene produced.
Claims45
A method for producing 1-butene and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) via an antifouling agent (AFA) system, comprising:
- feeding a catalyst, an AFA co-catalyst, and ethylene to a reactor, wherein the catalyst comprises a titanate compound, and wherein the AFA co-catalyst comprises the structure:
- or its dimeric form, wherein Al is aluminum, and wherein R1, R2, and R3 are chemical groups;
- dimerizing ethylene into 1-butene in the reactor;
- polymerizing ethylene into polyethylene comprising UHMWPE in the reactor;
- discharging an effluent from the reactor, the effluent comprising 1-butene and UHMWPE;
- and
- removing UHMWPE from the effluent as coproduct UHMWPE.
A method of producing 1-butene and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) utilizing an antifouling agent (AFA) system, comprising:
- reacting an antifouling compound (AFC) with a co-catalyst comprising aluminum alkyl to give an AFA co-catalyst;
- providing the AFA co-catalyst, a catalyst, and ethylene to a reactor, wherein the catalyst comprises a titanate compound and is provided separate from the AFA co-catalyst;
- oligomerizing ethylene in the reactor via the catalyst and the AFA co-catalyst, the oligomerizing comprising dimerizing ethylene into 1-butene and polymerizing ethylene into UHMWPE;
- discharging a product slurry from the reactor to a separator, the product slurry comprising 1-butene and UHMWPE;
- and
- removing UHMWPE from the product slurry via the separator as a coproduct.
A method for producing 1-butene and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), comprising:
- combining an antifouling compound (AFC) and a co-catalyst comprising aluminum alkyl to give an antifouling agent (AFA) co-catalyst, wherein the AFA co-catalyst comprises the structure:
- or its dimeric form, wherein Al is aluminum and R1, R2, and R3 are chemical groups;
- providing the AFA co-catalyst, a catalyst, and ethylene to a reactor, wherein the catalyst comprises a titanate compound and is provided separate from the AFA co-catalyst;
- oligomerizing ethylene in the reactor via the catalyst and the AFA co-catalyst, the oligomerizing comprising dimerizing ethylene into 1-butene and polymerizing ethylene into UHMWPE;
- discharging a product slurry from the reactor, the product slurry comprising 1-butene and UHMWPE;
- and
- removing UHMWPE from the product slurry as coproduct.
A system for producing 1-butene and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), comprising:
- a reactor to oligomerize ethylene in presence of a catalyst and an antifouling agent (AFA) co-catalyst to 1-butene and UHMWPE, wherein the catalyst comprises a titanate compound, and wherein the AFA co-catalyst comprises the structure:
- or its dimeric form, wherein Al is aluminum, and wherein R1, R2, and R3 are chemical groups;
- a separator comprising a filter to receive an effluent from the reactor and remove UHMWPE from the effluent as a coproduct and to discharge a product stream comprising 1-butene;
- and
- a catalyst removal section downstream of the separator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.