Catalyst composition and method for preparing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9321864-B2
Application number	US-201214368431-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2012
Priority date	Dec 28, 2011
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

The present invention relates to a catalyst composition for the polymerisation of olefins comprising a support containing a single site catalyst component, a catalyst activator and a modifier wherein the modifier is the product of reacting an aluminum compound of general formula AI(R1, R2, R3) with an amine compound of general formula N(R4, R5, R6). The catalyst composition reduces fouling and/or sheeting when used to catalyse the polymerisation of olefins. The present invention also relates to a method for the polymerisation of olefins using the catalyst composition of the invention.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A catalyst composition for the polymerisation of olefins comprising
a support;
a single site catalyst component;
a catalyst activator; and
a modifier wherein the modifier is the product of reacting an aluminum compound of general formula (1)

with an amine compound of general formula (2)

wherein
R1 is hydrogen or a branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R2 and R3 are the same or different and selected from branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon groups having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R4 is hydrogen or a functional group with at least one active hydrogen,
R5 is hydrogen or a branched, straight or cyclic, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R6 is a branched, straight or cyclic, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,

wherein the single site catalyst component, the catalyst activator, and the modifier are all present on the support; and
wherein the aluminum content of the catalyst composition is in the range of 3-20 wt % based on the total weight of the catalyst composition.

2. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 wherein the amine compound is selected from octadecylamine, ethylhexylamine, cyclohexylamine, bis(4-aminocyclohexyl)methane, hexamethylenediamine, 1,3-benzenedimethanamine, 1-amino-3-aminomethyl-3,5,5-trimethylcyclohexane and 6-amino-1,3-dimethyluracil.

3. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum compound is a tri-alkylaluminum compound.

4. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amounts of aluminum compound and amine compound are selected such that in the modifier a molar ratio of Al to N is in the range of 1:3 to 5:1.

5. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 , wherein the catalyst activator is an alumoxane, a perfluorophenylborane, a perfluorophenylborate or a mixture of at least two of such catalyst activators.

6. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a Ziegler-Natta and/or a chromium based catalyst component.

7. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 , wherein the aluminum content of the catalyst composition is in the range of 7-12 wt %, based on the total weight of the catalyst composition.

8. The catalyst composition according to claim 1 , wherein the single site catalyst component is a metallocene catalyst.

9. The catalyst composition according to claim 8 wherein the metallocene catalyst contains zirconium and wherein the zirconium content of the catalyst composition is in the range of 0.02-1 wt % based on the catalyst composition.

10. A method for preparing the catalyst composition according to claim 1 comprising:
a) preparing a modifier by reacting an aluminum compound of general formula (1)

with an amine compound of general formula (2)

b) activating a single site catalyst component by adding a catalyst activator to said single site catalyst component to obtain an activated single site catalyst component;
c) combining in a solvent a support material, the activated single site catalyst component obtained in step b) and the modifier obtained in step a);
d) optionally drying the reaction product obtained in step c);
wherein
R1 is hydrogen or a branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R2 and R3 are the same or different and selected from branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon groups having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R4 is hydrogen or a functional group with at least one active hydrogen,
R5 is hydrogen or a branched, straight or cyclic, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms, and
R6 is a branched, straight or cyclic, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein step a) is carried out at a temperature of 0° C.-50° C.

12. A method for the polymerisation of olefins comprising contacting olefins with the catalyst composition according to claim 1 in a reactor.

13. A method according to claim 12 comprising
i) adding ethylene and optionally one or more alpha-olefins having 3 to 10 carbon atoms to the reactor; and
ii) adding the catalyst composition to the reactor to produce a polyethylene.

14. The method for polymerisation of olefins according to claim 12 wherein during the polymerisation a continuity aid agent is added to the reactor wherein said continuity aid agent is prepared separately prior to introduction into the reactor by reacting:
at least one metal alkyl or metal alkyl hydride compound of a metal from group IIA or IlIA of the periodic system of elements, and
at least one compound of general formula R m XR′ n′
wherein
R is a branched, straight, or cyclic, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1 to 50,
R′ is hydrogen or a functional group with at least one active hydrogen,
X is a heteroatom selected from the group of O, N, P or S,
n and m are each at least 1 and are such that the formula has no net charge, and
the molar ratio of the metal of the metal alkyl compound and X is about 2:1 about 10:1.

15. The method for polymerisation of olefins according to claim 14 , wherein the continuity aid agent is the product of reacting an aluminum compound of general formula

with an amine compound of general formula

wherein
R1 is hydrogen or a branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R2 and R3 are the same or different and selected from branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon groups having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R4 is hydrogen or a functional group with at least one active hydrogen,
R5 is hydrogen or a branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R6 is a branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms.

16. A method of reducing reactor fouling, reactor sheeting, or a combination thereof during polymerization of olefins, the method comprising:
polymerizing olefins in the presence of a catalyst composition;
wherein the catalyst composition comprises a support, a single site catalyst component, a catalyst activator, and a modifier;
wherein the modifier comprises a reaction product obtained by reacting an aluminum compound of general formula

with an amine compound of general formula

wherein
R1 is hydrogen or a branched or straight, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1-30 carbon atoms,
R2 and R3 are the same or different and selecte

Assignees

• Saudi Basic Ind Corp

Inventors

• Van Den Esschert Bart Albertus Hubertus
• Willems Maria Johanna
• Al-Humydi Abdulaziz Hamad
• Banat Yahya
• Aburaqabah Atieh
• Fellahi Said

Classifications

• C08J2335/04

  Homopolymers or copolymers of nitriles (C08J2335/06, C08J2335/08 take precedence) · CPC title

• C08F10/00

  Homopolymers and copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond · CPC title

• C08F2410/02

  Anti-static agent incorporated into the catalyst · CPC title

• C08F210/16 Primary

  Copolymers of ethene with alpha-alkenes, e.g. EP rubbers · CPC title

• C08F110/02

  Ethene · CPC title