VINYL HALIDE POLYMERISATION PROCESS AND REACTOR THEREFOR

Build-up during vinyl halide, particularly vinyl chloride, polymerisation is prevented by employing a reactor having an adherent internal coating of a product derived from the admixture of at least polyethyleneimine and one or more of hydroquinone, p-benzoquinone, catechol and o-benzoquinone. The preferred system excludes catechol, p-benzoquinone and o-benzoquinone and optionally includes a small quantity of pyrogallol. The chemical constitution of the resulting coating product is not properly understood but is thought to include aminoquinonoid structures, condensates and radical anions. One embodiment is directed towards low temperature formation of the coating product in the presence of oxygen and on the reactor surface. Another embodiment concerns preforming the coating product and then applying it to the reactor surface.