LINEAR POLYETHYLENE AND POLYPROPYLENE

Transcription

1 Report No. 19-A LINEAR POLYETHYLENE AND POLYPROPYLENE Supplement A by ROBERT Consultant L. MAGOVERN October 1969 A private report by the PROCESS ECONOMICS PROGRAM STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE I MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA

2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... SUMMARY... INDUSTRY STATUS... CHEMISTRY OF PROPYLENE AND ETRYLRNE POLYMERIZATION... General Isotactic Catalyst... Mechanism Studies... Kinetics... Polyethylene... Zieglier Catalysts... Metal Oxide and Solid Catalysts... POLYOLEFIN PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS... Linear Polyethylene by the Ziegler Process... Linear Polyethylene by Metal Oxide Catalysts... Ethylene Polymers... High Molecular Weight Ethylene Polymers REVIEW OF POLYPROPYLENE PROCESSES... Avisun Corporation... Dow Chemical Company... Eastman Kodak Company... Esso Research and Engineering Company... Hercules Incorporated... Montecatini-Edison Sp A.... Phillips Petroleum Company... Rexall Drug and Chemical Company... Shell Oil Company... Others... PRODUCTION OF POLYPROPYLENE... Process Discription... Process Discussion... Cost Estimates... Capital Costs... Production Costs V

3 CONTENTS 8 PRODUCTION OF LINEAR POLYETHYLENE Review of Processes Phillips Particle Form Process Solvay and Cie. (Belgium) Particle Form Process Description Process Discussion Cost Estimates Capital Costs Production Costs Comparison with Other Processes PRODUCTION OF POLYPROPYLENE FIBERS Industry Status Review of Processes Dyeing Fiber Formation by Melt-Spinning Fiber Formation by Fibrillation and Film Slitting Fiber Processing Production of Continuous Filament Yarn Process Discussion Capital Cost Production Costs APPENDIX A DESIGN AND COST BASIS APPENDIX B PHYSICAL DATA APPENDIX C RAW MATERIAL SPECIFICATIONS APPENDIX D PROPERTIES OF POLYETHYLENE APPENDIX E PROPERTIES OF POLYPROPYLENE CITED REFERENCES PATENT REFERENCES BY COMPANY vi

4 ILLUSTRATIONS The Titanium Layer in Y-TiCl,, Showing Cleavage totis Units Process--Rexall Patent ,., 75 Process--Shell Patent,....,.., Polymer Solids Drying and Recovery--Shell Patent Production Plant Stream Balance......, on Production Cost..,, Linear Polyethylene--Particle Form Linear Polyethylene--Particle Form on Production Cost ,., Linear Polyethylene by a Ziegler Catalyst on Production Cost Linear Polyethylene by a Metal Oxide Catalyst on Production Cost..,....,,.,., Production of Continuous Filament Yarn.,. 165 Production of Continuous Filament Yarn Effect of Yarn Denier on Fixed Capital Requirement and Production Cost, ,. 173 vii

5 TABLES Polyethylene Production and Sales... Linear Polyethylene Uses... Estimated World Consumption of Polyethylene... Estimated World Polyethylene Production Capacity... Linear Polyethylene Plant Capacities... Plant Capacities... Melt Index-Dependent Properties of Phillips Ethylene Homopolymers... Physical Properties of Polyolefins Made by the Phillips Process... Melt Flow-Intrinsic Viscosity-Molecular Weight Relationships for Typical Commercial... Relationship of Structural Parameters to Physical Properties of... Avisun Catalyst Systems Eastman Catalyst Systems Montecatini Catalyst Systems Phillips Catalyst Systems Shell Catalyst Systems Comparison of Process Steps... Major Process Equipment and Utilities Summary... Stream Flows... Total Capital Investment... Production Costs

6 TABLES 8.1 Olefin Polymerization by Solvay and Cie Patent Summary,.,......,.,., Linear Polyethylene--Particle Form Major Process Equipment and Utilities Summary Linear Polyethylene--Particle Form Stream Flows Phillips Loop-Type Heactor Descriptions..., Linear Polyethylene--Particle Form Total Capital Investment Linear Polyethylene--Particle Form Production Costs..., Linear Polyethylene Comparison of Processes,.....,..,..... Linear Polyethylene by a Ziegler Catalyst Total Capital Investment Linear Polyethylene by a Ziegler Catalyst Production Costs Linear Polyethylene by a Metal Oxide Catalyst Total Capital Investment Linear Polyethylene by a Metal Oxide Catalyst Production Costs Fiber Consumption in the United States Companies Producing Multifilaments and Staple.,... Production of Slit Film Fabric..,. Production of Continuous Filament Yarn Major Process Equipment and Utilities Summary.... Production of Continuous Filament Yarn Total Capital Investment, Continuous Filament Yarn-165 Denier Production Costs....., Continuous Filament Yarn-840 Denier Production Costs..., X

7 TABLES D.l Properties of Polyethylene D.2 Effect of Basic Molecular Properties on Physical Properties of Polyethylene E.l Properties of E.2 Physical Properties of Copolymers E.3 Chemical Resistance of xi