Propylene polymerization in slurry catalyzed by titanium trichloride–diethyl aluminum chloride

Propylene is polymerized in a slurry over a TiCl₃ · ?AlCl₃ catalyst with a DEAC cocatalyst, approaching conditions of industrial relevance. The effects of various parameters such as temperature, pressure, cocatalyst-to-catalyst ratio, hydrogen concentration, and polymerization time are investigated with particular emphasis on the yield, tacticity, molecular weight, bulk density, and particle size of the resulting polymer. The highest yield and isotactic content are obtained at an Al/Ti ratio of 6, temperature of 70°C, and pressure of 9 kg/cm²g. The polymerization rate is found to be first order up to a monomer concentration of 2.5 mol/L. The overall activation energy of polymerization calculated from an Arrhenius plot is found to be 11.6 kcal/mol. A correlation between MFI and molecular weight is also presented. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.