Adv Polym Sci (2013) 257: 59–80
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_214
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 4 May 2013
The Slurry Polymerization Process with
Super-Active Ziegler-Type Catalyst Systems:
From the 2 L Glass Autoclave to the 200 m
3
Stirred Tank Reactor
L.L. Bo ¨hm
Abstract Since the discovery of the ethene polymerization with transition metal
catalysts of group IV of the periodic table in combination with aluminum alkyl
compounds as cocatalysts at low pressures and moderately high temperatures by
Ziegler and colleagues in 1953, this catalytic polymerization process has been developed over six decades in an outstanding way and is now a mature technology for the
production of high-density polyethylene grades with excellent properties for wide
fields of application. Today, super-active heterogeneous catalysts are available.
The catalyst must be designed to achieve high activity over a long polymerization
time, be able to control average molecular mass over a wide range using hydrogen, to
copolymerize ethene with higher 1-olefins, and to produce an unimodal polymer with a
relative narrow molecular mass distribution. It is of greatest importance to avoid
overheating of the growing polymer particle, especially when the polymerization
starts at the virgin catalyst particle. This is not easy to achieve because the polymerization process is highly exothermic. The transformation of a catalyst particle into a
polymer grain can be described and is well understood by the microreactor model. The
technical process can be divided into three clear distinguishable levels: the microscale,
the mesoscale, and the macroscale. The microscale level comprises all processes
inside and at the surface of the growing polymer particle, i.e., the microreactor
behavior. The mesoscale level deals with all processes inside the three-phase reactor
content comprising gas bubbles, hydrocarbon diluent and the solid growing polymer
particles. It is important to achieve reproducible and stable conditions on the basis of a
L.L. Bo ¨hm (*)
Leonhardstr. 36, 65795 Hattersheim, Germany
e-mail: hanni.ludwigboehm@t-online.de
In former time the author L.L. Bo ¨hm was working with Hoechst AG (Frankfurt (M), Germany),
Hostalen Polyethylen GmbH (Frankfurt (M), Germany), Elenac GmbH (Kehl, Germany) and
Basell Polyolefins (Wesseling, Germany).
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_214
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 4 May 2013
The Slurry Polymerization Process with
Super-Active Ziegler-Type Catalyst Systems:
From the 2 L Glass Autoclave to the 200 m
3
Stirred Tank Reactor
L.L. Bo ¨hm
Abstract Since the discovery of the ethene polymerization with transition metal
catalysts of group IV of the periodic table in combination with aluminum alkyl
compounds as cocatalysts at low pressures and moderately high temperatures by
Ziegler and colleagues in 1953, this catalytic polymerization process has been developed over six decades in an outstanding way and is now a mature technology for the
production of high-density polyethylene grades with excellent properties for wide
fields of application. Today, super-active heterogeneous catalysts are available.
The catalyst must be designed to achieve high activity over a long polymerization
time, be able to control average molecular mass over a wide range using hydrogen, to
copolymerize ethene with higher 1-olefins, and to produce an unimodal polymer with a
relative narrow molecular mass distribution. It is of greatest importance to avoid
overheating of the growing polymer particle, especially when the polymerization
starts at the virgin catalyst particle. This is not easy to achieve because the polymerization process is highly exothermic. The transformation of a catalyst particle into a
polymer grain can be described and is well understood by the microreactor model. The
technical process can be divided into three clear distinguishable levels: the microscale,
the mesoscale, and the macroscale. The microscale level comprises all processes
inside and at the surface of the growing polymer particle, i.e., the microreactor
behavior. The mesoscale level deals with all processes inside the three-phase reactor
content comprising gas bubbles, hydrocarbon diluent and the solid growing polymer
particles. It is important to achieve reproducible and stable conditions on the basis of a
L.L. Bo ¨hm (*)
Leonhardstr. 36, 65795 Hattersheim, Germany
e-mail: hanni.ludwigboehm@t-online.de
In former time the author L.L. Bo ¨hm was working with Hoechst AG (Frankfurt (M), Germany),
Hostalen Polyethylen GmbH (Frankfurt (M), Germany), Elenac GmbH (Kehl, Germany) and
Basell Polyolefins (Wesseling, Germany).