Patent ID: 7910679

Claim:
A continuous process to produce ethylene-propylene random copolymers comprising: (a) providing a reactor train including one reactor or two or more serially configured reactors; (b) contacting in the reactors of the reactor train 1) propylene monomer, 2) one or more catalyst systems, 3) ethylene comonomer, and 4) optional one or more solvents, wherein the reactor train is at a temperature of between 65 degrees C. and 180 degrees C. and at a pressure no lower than 10 MPa below the cloud point pressure of the polymerization system and less than 1500 MPa, wherein the polymerization system for the reactor train is in its dense fluid state and comprises the propylene monomer, the ethylene comonomer, any solvent present, and the polymer product, wherein the one or more catalyst systems for the reactor train comprise one or more catalyst precursors, one or more activators, and optionally, one or more catalyst supports, wherein the one or more catalyst systems are chosen from Ziegler-Natta catalysts, metallocene catalysts, nonmetallocene metal-centered, heteroaryl ligand catalysts, late transition metal catalysts, and combinations thereof, wherein the polymerization system comprises less than 40 wt % of the optional solvent; and (c) forming a polymer reactor effluent including a homogeneous fluid phase polymer-monomer mixture in the reactor train; and wherein the resultant copolymer product comprises between 10 wt % and 20 wt randomly distributed ethylene with a melt flow rate of between 0.5 and 20,000 g/10 min, wherein the total regio defects of the copolymer in its continuous propylene segments is between 40 and 150% greater than a copolymer of equivalent melt flow rate and wt % ethylene polymerized by a solution polymerization process, and wherein the total regio defects in its continuous propylene segments is greater than 0.50 mol %.