(722aq) Environmentally Friendly Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis for Improved Polyethylene Products

Environmentally-friendly polymer processes have been developed for improving polyethylene product synthesis and catalysis.

The developed processes seek ethylene and energy conservation coupled with elimination of toxic and hazardous solvents, catalysts, and other reaction media. Increased polyethylene yields, ethylene recycling within the process, reduction in hazardous waste generation, reduction of process equipment and of capital and operational costs (including monomer and energy costs)are some of the improvements of the new processes. Ethylene can come from a variety of sources including a dehydrogenation membrane reactor which produces increased yields of the valuable monomer. Hydrogen or hydrogen and ethylene separation is occurring in the catalytic dehydrogenation membrane reactor.

Related modeling and optimization of the multiphase polyethylene reactor in the downstream is underway to describe its functionality, operational range, capacity and polyethylene selectivity. The models used can simulate relevant acquired laboratory and industrial data. They describe numerically reaction, transport, recycling, polymerization, and polymer separation operations in the polyethylene reactor and within the process. Relative compositions of feedstock ethylene diluted with other components can be used in this reactor to produce improved polyethylene of variable molecular weight, structure, and tensile properties. Moreover, some forms of copolymers can be also produced directly during ethylene polymerization by adjusting the operation conditions of the upstream membrane dehydrogenator.