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Heat Transfer in Gas Phase Olefin Polymerisation
Author(s) -
Tioni Estevan,
Broyer Jean Pierre,
Spitz Roger,
Monteil Vincent,
McKenna Timothy F. L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200951108
Subject(s) - polymerization , olefin fiber , heat transfer , materials science , microreactor , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , gas phase , polymer , thermal , catalysis , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , engineering
A fixed bed microreactor has been used to study heat transfer during the initial transient state of gas phase olefin polymerization on a supported catalyst. It has been shown that heat transfer during this stage of the polymerisation is critical, and under conditions found commercially problems can arise with hot spots and polymer melting. It is proven how the thermal properties of the gas mixture flowing on the catalytic bed exert great influence on heat dissipation reducing the sudden increase in temperature by as much as a factor of 5. Flow rate and especially the process gas composition are the key factors in controlling the bed temperature.