Fragmentation-Oriented Design of Olefin Polymerization Catalysts: Support Porosity

Abstract

The development of catalysts for the production of polyethylene and polypropylene is ordinarily accomplished on a trial-and-error experimentation program. From the point-of-view of the fragmentation performance, support porosity is the key property affecting the mechanical support resistance, and, therefore, it determines the fragmentation process during the early moments of polymerization. The design of the support porosity can be more accurately determined by applying the theoretical knowledge acquired from previous research, but this is not consolidated for catalyst design. This article reports a methodology to optimize the support porosity using a simple fundamental model of the fragmentation process. Using this approach, the design of fragmentation-oriented supports can be achieved for polymerization reactors.