PROCESS FOR REDUCING POLYMER BUILD-UP IN RECYCLE LINES AND HEAT EXCHANGERS DURING POLYMERIZATIONS ENPLOYING BUTADIENE, ISOPRENE, AND/OR STYRENE

PURPOSE: A process for reducing polymer build-up or fouling in the recycle lines and heat exchangers during the polymerization of alpha olefins and diolefins, particularly sticky polymers, in a gas phase, fluidized bed reactor system, is provided. CONSTITUTION: A method for inhibiting polymer build-up in a recycle line and a heat exchanger during polymerization of butadiene, isoprene, styrene, and mixtures thereof in the presence of a rare earth metal or transition metal catalyst or combination thereof, comprises introducing as an antifouling agent an alcohol having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkyl or cycloalkyl monoether having 2 to 20 carbon atoms, ammonia, an ester of an inorganic acid, a compound of a group IV element of the periodic table, an alkyl and aryl amines, a sulfur-containing compound, or a mixture thereof at one or more locations in the recycle gas line in an amount sufficient to inhibit build-up of polymer product.