Ethylene polymerization process having improved heat exchanger performance
AssigneeBasell Polyolefine GmbH
InventorsGiuseppe Penzo, Rodrigo Carvajal, Reinhard Kuehl, Elke Damm
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Abstract
A process for the preparation of polyethylene by polymerizing in a slurry ethylene and optionally one or more C3 to C10 alpha-olefins in a reactor system comprising a polymerization reactor and one or more first heat exchangers located outside the polymerization reactor where the slurry in the polymerization reactor is cooled by withdrawing slurry from the polymerization reactor, cooling the slurry in the one or more first heat exchangers and returning the cooled slurry to the polymerization reactor, wherein the one or more first heat exchangers are cooled by a first coolant having a temperature of 29° C. or higher.
Claims24
A process for the preparation of polyethylene by polymerizing in a slurry ethylene and optionally one or more C3 to C10 alpha-olefins at a temperature from 60° C. to 95° C. and a pressure from 0.15 MPa to 3 MPa in a reactor system comprising a polymerization reactor and one or more first heat exchangers located outside the polymerization reactor, where the slurry in the polymerization reactor is cooled by withdrawing slurry from the polymerization reactor, cooling the slurry in the one or more first heat exchangers and returning the cooled slurry to the polymerization reactor, wherein the one or more first heat exchangers are cooled by a first coolant having a temperature of 29° C. or higher, and wherein the temperature in the polymerization reactor is maintained by adjusting the flow rate of the first coolant through the one or more first heat exchangers.
A process for the preparation of polyethylene by polymerizing in a slurry ethylene and optionally one or more C3 to C10 alpha-olefins at a temperature from 60° C. to 95° C. and a pressure from 0.15 MPa to 3 MPa in a combination of two, three or more reactor systems which are operated in series, where the reactor systems each comprise a polymerization reactor and one or more first heat exchangers located outside the polymerization reactor, where the slurry in the polymerization reactor is cooled by withdrawing slurry from the polymerization reactor, cooling the slurry in the one or more first heat exchangers and returning the cooled slurry to the polymerization reactor, and wherein the one or more first heat exchangers are cooled by a first coolant having a temperature of 29° C. or higher.
A process for the preparation of polyethylene by polymerizing in a slurry ethylene and optionally one or more C3 to C10 alpha-olefins at a temperature from 60° C. to 95° C. and a pressure from 0.15 MPa to 3 MPa in a reactor system comprising a polymerization reactor and one or more first heat exchangers located outside the polymerization reactor, where the slurry in the polymerization reactor is cooled by withdrawing slurry from the polymerization reactor, cooling the slurry in the one or more first heat exchangers and returning the cooled slurry to the polymerization reactor, wherein the one or more first heat exchangers are cooled by a first coolant having a temperature of 29° C. or higher, wherein the polymerization reactor is further equipped at its outside with a cooling jacket and the first coolant is also cooling the cooling jacket of the polymerization reactor.
A process for the preparation of polyethylene by polymerizing in a slurry ethylene and optionally one or more C3 to C10 alpha-olefins at a temperature from 60° C. to 95° C. and a pressure from 0.15 MPa to 3 MPa in a reactor system comprising a polymerization reactor and one or more first heat exchangers located outside the polymerization reactor, where the slurry in the polymerization reactor is cooled by withdrawing slurry from the polymerization reactor, cooling the slurry in the one or more first heat exchangers and returning the cooled slurry to the polymerization reactor, wherein the one or more first heat exchangers are cooled by a first coolant having a temperature of from 29° C. to 40° C.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.