Elbow and horizontal configurations in a loop reactor

摘要

A reactor system containing one or more loop reactors for olefin polymerization is provided. The loop reactors include vertical sections, elbow sections, and/or horizontal sections connected into one or more loop reaction zones to polymerize an olefin monomer in the presence of a liquid diluent into a slurry comprising particles of a polyolefin polymer. The reactor system footprint is reduced to increase production efficiency and save cost, while maintaining a high processing capacity. In one embodiment a horizontal length (LH) of at least one horizontal section is greatly reduced with maintained processing capacity. In another embodiment, at least one elbow section of the reactor system is configured to maintain a Dean number (Dn) of the slurry flowing therein to be higher than 3,000,000.

主权项

1. A loop reactor for olefin polymerization, the loop reactor comprising:
a plurality of vertical sections; a plurality of elbow sections connecting the vertical sections to either a horizontal section or another elbow section, at least one elbow section having an internal diameter (d) and a radius (Rc) of an inner curvature; and at least one loop reaction zone configured to polymerize an olefin monomer in the presence of a liquid diluent into a slurry comprising particles of a polyolefin polymer, wherein the at least one elbow section is configured to maintain a Dean number (Dn) of the slurry flowing therein to be higher than 3,000,000, where Dn=ρVd/μ*(d/2Rc)1/2 and where ρ is a density of the slurry, V is a circulation velocity of the slurry, and μ is a dynamic viscosity of the slurry.