Effect of fatty amine and perfluorocarbon as anti-fouling agent on the catalyst activity and titanium oxidation state in slurry polymerization of ethylene

Abstract

In this work, the effect of two antifouling materials on the activity of catalyst used to produce polyethylene in a 1-L slurry reactor and on the titanium oxidation state of the catalyst was investigated. Armostat 300 with the formula alkyl C14-C18 bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine is an antistatic agent that reduces static electricity of the polymer particles. It was found that within the concentration of 0.16-1.32 g/mmol Ti, Armostat 300 helps to increase the catalyst activity to 1.3-2 times. The variation of the titanium oxidation state of the catalyst in the presence of Armostat 300 at 80°C with Al/Ti molar ratio of 100 showed that Ti (III) species increased. The effect of Armostat 300 on Tm, % Xc, density, bulk density, and MFI of polymer was insignificant. In this work, Zonyl FSN-100 with the formula Rf(CH2CH2O)xH, R f = F(CF2CF2)y, y = 1-9, x = 1-26 was used as antifouling agent in copolymerization of ethylene with 1-butene. It was found that Zonyl FSN-100 at the concentration range of 5-20 ppm reduces the catalyst activity to 1.11-1.9 times. It was also shown that Ti (III) species in the presence of Zonyl FSN 100 decreased. This antifouling agent slightly decreased the properties of polymer including % Xc, density, and Mw. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.