Production of ethylene copolymers

摘要

A process for the continuous production of an ethylene copolymer by compressing a mixture of ethylene and comonomer in a pre-compressor and a post-compressor, copolymerizing the mixture in a polymerization zone at a high temperature and high pressure, transferring the reaction mixture into a high pressure product isolation zone, from there into a low pressure product isolation zone and thereafter into a discharge extruder, and recycling the greater part of the unconverted monomer into the polymerization process and passing a small part of the unconverted gas into a low temperature isolation zone, in which process a small part of the gas recycled from the high pressure product isolation zone is passed into the low temperature isolation zone, which is preferably under a pressure of from 10 to 30 bar and at from -10 DEG to -50 DEG C., and all the gas taken off the low pressure product isolation zone is fed to the pre-compressor. Using the novel process, the separating-off of the comonomer which has remained unconverted in the polymerization process can be improved.