Ruhrchemie Aktiengesellschaft

Karl Otterbein

Boy Cornils

Wolfgang Payer

Hans-Walter Birnkraut

Jurgen Falbe

Siegfried Lutze

Peter Schneller

Ingrid Forster

An improvement in a process for the preparation of an ethylene homopolymer or a copolymer of ethylene with an .alpha.-olefin containing 3 to 15 carbon atoms by contacting the monomer or mixture of monomers in solution, suspension or in gas phase at 20.degree. to 250.degree. C. at a pressure of 1 to 50 bar with a mixed catalyst comprising a chlorine containing titanium (III) compound and an organoaluminum compound in the presence of hydrogen, the improvement residing in employing as the organoaluminum compound a trialkylaluminum compound in an amount of 0.1 to 20 mol per mol titanium (III) compound and including in the polymerization mixture oxygen at a concentration of 0.001 to 0.1 volume percent based upon the amount of ethylene. By carrying out the polymerization by including oxygen in the polymerization reaction mixture and employing trialkylaluminum compound as the organoaluminum compound the mean molecular weight of the polymer can be regulated while obtaining a desired molecular weight distribution.

Process for the manufacture of polyolefins

Growing community of inventors

Oberhausen, Germany

Karl Otterbein