Abstract

Polypropylene is a type of thermoplastic polymer resin and a superior quality polymer

material that originates from olefins. Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is
a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. With the rising demands of
polypropylene, now it becomes the second important plastic product. Polymerization
occurred in production of Polypropylene with the overall process is known as free
radicals. There are few ways to manufacture Polypropylene in manufacturing industry.
However, the latest technology had discovered that production of Polypropylene can be
optimized using Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor (FBR) with Ziegler – Natta Catalyst
acting as catalyst in the reaction. FBR are heterogeneous reactor where mass of catalyst
being fluidized, and extensive mixing in all direction is allowed to happen. Fluidization
happened when a fluid is passed through a solid granular material (catalyst shaped as
tiny spheres) at high velocities to suspend solid to cause it behaving as though it were a
liquid. This results excellent temperature stability and increased mass transfer and
reaction rates. Capability to handle large amount of feed and catalyst is the advantages
of Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor. In industry, products that can be manufactured from
Propylene are plastic products like chairs, labelling and packaging, textiles, stationery,
laboratory equipment and many other.

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Introduction

History of process

In March 1954, Polypropylene was first polymerized to a crystalline isotactic polymer by

Giulio Natta and Germany chemist, Karl Rehn. The discovery led to large scale
commercial production by Italian firm Montecatini from 1957 onwards. Natta and his co-
workers also the first to synthesise Syndiotactic Polypropylene. With revenues expected
to exceed US$ 145 billion by 2019, Polypropylene is the second most important plastic.
The demand for this material was growing at a rate of 4.4% per year between 2004 and
2012.

Process methods

Type of reaction: Polymerization

Reaction mechanism: Overall process is known as free radical addition.

Chain initiation: The chain is initiated by free radicals, Ra , produced by reaction between
some of the ethene and the oxygen initiator.

Chain propagation: Every time a free radical hits an ethene molecule, a new longer free
radical is formed.

Chain termination: Two free radicals hit each other producing a final molecule. The
process stops here because no new free radicals are formed.

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Chain termination is a random process, poly(ethene) will be made up of chains of all sorts
of different lengths.

Reactant: Propene, Hydrogen

Product: Polypropene (polypropylene)

Catalyst: Ziegler – Natta catalyst

Application of product and its importance

Polypropylene is widely used an a wide variety of applications including packaging and

labelling, textiles, stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types,
laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes.

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Reactor

Types of main reactor and its description

In optimizing Polypropylene production, Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) is being used. FBR
are heterogeneous catalytic reactor where mass of catalyst is fluidized, allowing
extensive mixing in all direction. Fluidization is where a fluid is passed through a solid
granular material (catalyst shaped as tiny spheres) at high velocities to suspend solid to
cause it behaving as though it were a liquid. This results excellent temperature stability
and increased mass transfer and reaction rates. FBR are capable to handle large
amount of feed and catalyst.

Size or dimension

The inner diameter and height of the fluidized bed zones are 10 cm and 150 cm,
respectively. The diameter is based upon the capacity of the production and the height of
the reactor based on the fluid residence times. The disengagement zone has a diameter
of 25 cm and a height of 25 cm.

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Supportive equipment or units

To operate this reactor, few other supportive equipment and units required to produce
Polypropylene. They are compressor, heat exchanger and polymer / reactant separator.

Constraints or problem of reactor

Fluidized bed reactors usually are more complex to design, build and operate compared
to other reactors. This reactor also prone to erosion and particle attrition caused by
moving particles. Solid losses causes significant operating costs especially when solid
particles are an expensive catalyst. It is also needed to manage the bubbles as bigger
bubbles can travel faster than smaller bubbles, which reduces mass transfer between
phases.

Reactor operating conditions

FBR is being operated at temperature range 320 to 360 K. A pressure ranging from 8 to
35 atm needed to operate FBR. Catalyst and co-catalyst are continuously fed into reactor
to activates the reactants which is Propylene and Hydrogen, producing an outspread
distribution of polymer particles. While activating catalyst, keeping moisture below 2 ppm
done by co-catalyst. This is required in producing industrial grade polypropylene.
Propylene can converted to Polypropylene as much as 2 to 3 percent per pass under
fluidization conditions while overall conversion can reach up to 98 percent.

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Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of using Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor in optimizing Polypropylene

production are:

1 – Uniform Particle Mixing

Fluidized beds does not experiencing poor mixing as in packed beds. Elimination of radial
and axial concentration gradients also allows better fluid – solid contact, essential for
reaction efficiency and quality.

2 – Uniform Temperature Gradients

Packed bed experiencing problem where local hot or cold spots within reaction bed and
this has been avoided in fluidized situation. Temperature differences can resulting product
degradation. FBR is perfect for exothermic reactions.

3 – Reactor able to operate in continuous state

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Continuous withdraw of product and entering of new reactants into reaction vessel is
being allowed due to fluidized bed nature. Continuous process operation can make
manufacturers to be able to produce various products, efficiently.

However, Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor also possessed some disadvantages:

1 – Lack of current understanding

There are limited current understanding of the actual behaviour of materials in a fluidized
bed. Prediction and calculation of complex mass and heat flows within the bed is difficult.

2 – Pressure loss scenarios

If fluidization pressure is lost all of sudden, surface area of bed may be reduced. This can
be inconvenience and may have serious implications.

3 – Erosion of internal components

The fluid like behaviour of fine solid particles within the bed can causes wearing of the
reactor vessel. Expensive maintenance for reaction vessel and pipes is required.

Conclusion and Recommendations

To conclude, research found that latest technology Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor helps
to optimize the production of polypropylene. Fluidization is where a fluid is passed
through a solid granular material (catalyst shaped as tiny spheres) at high velocities to
suspend solid to cause it behaving as though it were a liquid. This results excellent
temperature stability and increased mass transfer and reaction rates. FBR are capable to
handle large amount of feed and catalyst.

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There are a few advantages of using Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor in production of
polypropylene. Usage of FBR are advantageous as it helps to mix particles uniformly,
temperature gradients becomes uniform and reactor able to work continuously.

However, the discovery is still new. There is still lacking knowledge of the reactor. Several
constraints of the reactor has been founded. Therefore, further study about the reactor is
recommended to reduce the constraints and disadvantages.

The research aimed to produce more accurate models of inner movements and
phenomenon of the bed. This helps chemical engineers in designing better, more efficient
reactors to deal with current disadvantages of the reactor and expand the range of usage
of Fluidized Bed Catalytic Reactor.

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References

1 - http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/polymers/polypropene.html

2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene

3-

http://www.plasticseurope.org/what-is-plastic/types-of-plastic-
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4 - http://www.aiche.org/sites/default/files/cep/20141121.pdf

5 - http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/1polymer/reactions.html

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Manufacturing Process. R&D Report, “SUMITOMO KAGAKU”, II: 5-9.

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