Polymerization of olefins through heterogeneous catalysis. V. Gas-liquid mass transfer limitations in liquid slurry reactors

Many processes for polymerization of olefins employ laboratory, pilot plant, or full‐scale liquid‐phase polymerization reactors with monomer introduced as a gas. Criteria for the presence of gas‐liquid mass transfer resistance in these systems are determined in terms of observed reaction rate or loading of a heterogeneous catalyst of given intrinsic activity. The effects of variables such as reactor size and configuration, temperature, and soluble polymer are also examined. The equilibrium monomer concentrations of ethylene in hexane and propylene in heptane are calculated through a modified Benedict‐Webb‐Rubin equation, and some calculations for ethylene‐propylene mixtures are tabulated. The general methodology for predicting gas‐liquid mass transfer resistance is readily extendible to copolymerization systems.