Low temperature steam stripping for byproduct polymer and solvent recovery from an ethylene oligomerization process

A method for separating byproduct polymer from the reactor effluent in an ethylene oligomerization process comprising:

• a. contacting said reactor effluent, comprising alpha-olefin product, byproduct polymer, catalyst material, and reactor diluent, with at least one heated solvent to make a heated reactor effluent;
• b. in a flash separator, separating said heated reactor effluent into a vapor stream comprising a portion of said alpha-olefin product and a liquid solvent effluent stream comprising a portion of said byproduct polymer;
• c. in a stripping vessel, removing at least a portion of said solvent from said solvent effluent stream by vaporizing said solvent at sub-atmospheric pressures and temperatures less than 90° C. to create a liquid stream rich in byproduct polymer;
• d. contacting said byproduct polymer rich stream with steam and water while controlling pressure and temperature conditions as in (c) to form a byproduct polymer water slurry;
• and
• e. discharging said byproduct polymer water slurry from said process.