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Experimental Evaluation of a Catalyst Fragmentation Model for Olefin Polymerization
Author(s) -
Dos Santos Boll Bruna,
Dutra Caroline P.,
Santos João H. Z.,
Fisch Adriano G.,
Cardozo Nilo S. M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
macromolecular reaction engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1862-8338
pISSN - 1862-832X
DOI - 10.1002/mren.202000008
Subject(s) - fragmentation (computing) , catalysis , calcination , polyethylene , polymerization , olefin polymerization , olefin fiber , materials science , scanning electron microscope , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , chemistry , polymer , composite material , organic chemistry , computer science , engineering , operating system
Fragmentation of supported catalysts plays an important role on olefin polymerization, which has motivated several studies on this topic in recent years. This work aims to obtain experimental data to compare with the predictions of a theoretical model previously developed in the research group, which uses only kinetic constants and the catalyst physical properties as input parameters. Three zirconocene catalysts supported on silica are used to produce polyethylene. The reaction products are calcined and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. Good qualitative agreement is observed between the model predictions for radial extent of fragmentation and the experimentally observed fragmentation patterns. This includes the transition of a pattern of total fragmentation to one of partial fragmentation at the external layers of the catalyst as its pore volume decreases.