Patent ID: 7650930
Filing Date: 2010-01-26
Classification: C08C,C08F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A high temperature solution polymerization process comprising: a) polymerizing one or more olefins in a solvent within a reactor system to produce a single-phase polymer solution; b) quenching the polymerization reaction by adding a catalyst deactivator to the polymer solution effluent from said reactor system; c) feeding the polymer solution through one or more heat exchangers to increase the temperature of the polymer solution; and d) feeding the polymer solution effluent from said one or more heat exchangers to a devolatilization system; the improvement of which comprises a method for the on-line cleaning of said one or more heat exchangers, wherein said method comprises periodically reducing the pressure at the back end of one or more of said heat exchangers using a pressure control valve downstream of one or more of said heat exchangers, wherein reducing the pressure at the back end of one or more of said heat exchangers deliberately creates a positive pressure differential across said one or more heat exchangers and wherein the pressure at the back end of one or more of said heat exchangers is reduced by an amount sufficient to induce the single phase polymer solution to undergo phase separation within said one or more heat exchangers to give a two phase liquid-liquid polymer solution.