Polymer-supported metallocene catalysts for gas-phase ethylene polymerization

The use of hydroxylated chloromethylated-styrene/divinylbenzene copolymer as a support for three different catalysts, Cp2ZrCl2, [Ind]2ZrCl2 and (CH3)2Si[Ind]2ZrCl2 has been examined for the polymerization of ethylene in gas phase. The gas phase polymerization experiments were performed in a horizontal reactor by using Box-Behnken experimental design [Box and Wilson, 1951] to study the effects of temperature, ethylene partial pressure, and MAO cocatalyst level on polymerization. The measured average catalyst activities were empirically correlated with these three factors. Temperature appears to be the most important factor, which shows a first and second order effect on activity and also interacts with pressure and MAO. The kinetic study shows that these supported catalysts might contain two types of active sites, and the deactivation of sites follows a first order kinetic.