Patent ID: 8586685

Claim:
A process for the polymerization of olefins, comprising: feeding a catalyst, a liquid diluent, and an olefin to a polymerization vessel having, from a polymerization vessel bottom to a polymerization vessel top, a vapor introduction zone, a three-phase reaction zone and a vapor disengagement zone; contacting the catalyst and olefin under conditions of temperature and pressure in the presence of the liquid diluent as a continuous phase in the three-phase reaction zone to form a solid phase polyolefin; withdrawing a gas phase composition from an outlet in fluid communication with the vapor disengagement zone; circulating the gas phase composition through a gas circulation loop to an inlet in fluid communication with the vapor introduction zone at a rate sufficient to agitate the solid and liquid phases within the three-phase reaction zone; withdrawing a reaction mixture comprising polyolefin and diluents from the three-phase reaction zone.