Radiation‐induced polymerization of ethylene in a pilot plant. II. Development of wet‐wall process

摘要

AbstractRadiation‐induced polymerization of ethylene usingtert‐butyl alcohol aqueous solution as a medium was carried out in a pilot plant with 10 liter reactor at pressures of 100 to 400 kg/cm2, ethylene feed rates of 1.2 to 11.8 kg/hr, medium feed rates of 0 to 100 liter/hr, dose rates of 0.6 × 105to 1.4 × 105rad/hr, and at room temperature. The space‐time yield and molecular weight of polymer were in the range of 1.2 to 16.7 g/liter hr and 6 × 103to 2 × 105, respectively. The space‐time yield and molecular weight increased with pressure and mean residence time. The space‐time yield was the maximum at an ethylene molar fraction of 0.5. The produced polymer was continuously taken out from the high‐pressure system as a slurry. The amount of deposited polymer to the reactor wall was markedly decreased, and five full days continuous operation was successfully performed with the space‐time yield o