Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP

Chevron Philips Chemical Company, LP

Robert R McElvain

Anurag Gupta

John D Hottovy

Ralph W Romig

Scott E Kufeld

John H Tait

David H Burns

Donald W Verser

James E Hein

Dale A Zellers

Richard Peacock

Carl W Fenderson

Gregory G Hendrickson

Penny A Zellers, Legal Representative

Larry W Ezell

Lei Ji

Steven D Bridges

John D Stewart

Bryan M Garner

Jennifer F Drew

Anne M Balinsky

Robert F Parrott

Steve E Page

Joel A Mutchler

Gregory G Hendrikson

Donal W Verser

Reactor systems, reactor coolant systems, and associated processes for polymerizing polyolefins are described. The reactor systems generally include a reactor pipe and a coolant system, in which the coolant system includes a jacket pipe surrounding at least a portion of the reactor pipe to form an annulus therebetween, at least one spacer coupling the jacket to the reactor pipe, and a coolant which flows through the annulus to remove heat from the reactor pipe. At least one of the external surface of the reactor pipe, the internal surface of the jacket, and at least one spacer, are independently modified, for example by polishing, coating, or reshaping, to reduce the fluid resistance of the coolant flow through the annulus.

Reactor jacket design

A closed-loop nitrogen transport system including a first transfer line configured for nitrogen pressure conveyance of a polymer fluff from at least one upstream vessel to at least one downstream vessel, a second transfer line configured to return a nitrogen gas stream comprising primarily nitrogen from the at least one downstream vessel to the at least one upstream vessel, a conveyor blower operable to provide flow throughout the closed loop, and a treatment unit operable to remove hydrocarbons from at least a portion of the nitrogen gas stream comprising primarily nitrogen, to provide a purified nitrogen stream.

Nitrogen conservation in polymerization processes

A system for recovering nitrogen during regeneration of a treater, the system including an adsorbent bed downstream of the treater, wherein the adsorbent bed comprises an adsorbent operable to adsorb at least one impurity from a treater bed regeneration effluent stream comprising nitrogen to provide a nitrogen product having a higher nitrogen purity than a nitrogen purity of the treater bed regeneration effluent stream. A method for recovering nitrogen during regeneration of a treater is also provided.

A process is described for introducing a catalyst into a polymerization zone by detecting one or a combination of (i) a change in a concentration of the catalyst in a catalyst feed stream upstream of the polymerization zone, (ii) a change in a concentration of monomer in the polymerization zone, and (iii) a change in a polymer production rate of the polymerization zone, adjusting a first catalyst flow rate of the catalyst in the catalyst feed stream to a second catalyst flow rate based on the one or a combination of (i), (ii), and (iii), and introducing the catalyst into the polymerization zone downstream of a location in the catalyst feed stream where the step of adjusting is performed. A catalyst injection system for carrying out such a process is also provided.

Polymerization catalyst delivery

Disclosed are embodiments of a method of regenerating a desiccant in an off-line treater of a polyolefin production process. The method may include a heating phase followed by a cooling phase. The heating phase may involve use of a regenerating gas made from heating a treated a recycle stream of the polyolefin production process to regenerate desiccant in an off-line treater. The cooling phase may involve thermosyphoning the regenerating gas, nitrogen, an olefin-free diluent, or combinations thereof in a closed-convection loop of the off-line treater.

Treater regeneration

A manufacturing system for producing polyolefin includes a polymerization reactor, a flash chamber, and a purge column. In certain embodiments, the purge column may receive a solids stream directly from the flash chamber. Further, the purge column may function as a feed tank for an extruder within an extrusion/loadout system. According to certain embodiments, the manufacturing system may be configured to consume less than 445 kilowatt-hours of energy per metric ton of polyolefin produced based on consumption of electricity, steam, and fuel gas.

Energy efficient polyolefin process

A system and method for measuring pressure and flow rate of polymer slurry circulating in a loop reactor. For flow rate measurement, the loop reactor has a pressure tap on an outside radius of an elbow of the loop and a pressure tap on an inside radius of the elbow. The pressure taps incorporate diaphragms. Sensing legs couple the pressure taps with a differential pressure meter configured to provide a signal indicative of the flow rate of the polymer slurry. For pressure measurement, pressure taps without diaphragms at the loop reactor wall may be disposed at various points along the loop reactor, the pressure taps coupled to pressure sensing lines. A diluent flush line having a screen disposed therein may provide diluent to the pressure taps. The screen may reduce fouling of the pressure tap and sensing line with solids from the reactor.

System and method for measuring pressure and flow in a loop reactor

A manufacturing process for producing polyolefin, having a feed system, a reactor system including at least one polymerization reactor, a diluent/monomer recovery system, a fractionation system, and an extrusion/loadout system having an extruder. The manufacturing process is configured to consume less than 325 kilowatt-hours of electricity per metric ton of polyolefin produced.

Growing community of inventors

Kingwood, TX, United States of America

Robert R McElvain