Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
243 words
A process for producing substantially amorphous, ethylene/propylene copolymers which comprises reacting from 70 to 96.5 wt. % propylene and from 3.5 to 30 wt.% ethylene at a temperature of from 55°C (130°F) and 80°C (175°) and at a reactor pressure sufficient to maintain propylene in the liquid phase, in the presence of from about 0.7 to about 3.0 mol % hydrogen based on the monomer feed to the process and employing as catalyst a composition comprising: (a) a solid catalyst component obtainable by (i) co-comminuting magnesium halide support base and aluminium trihalide in a molar ratio from 8:0.5 to 8:3 in the absence of added electron donor and (ii) then co-comminuting the product of step (i) in the absence of added electron donor with sufficient titanium tetrahalide to provide a molar ratio of magnesium halide to titanium tetrahalide from 8:0.4 to 8:1; and (b) a co-catalyst component comprising a mixture of from 15 to 100 mol % of trialkyluminium having from 1 to 9 carbon atoms in each alkyl group and 85 to 0 mol % of an alkylaluminium halide having at least one halide group per molecule and from 1 to 9 carbon atoms in the alkyl group in a sufficient quantity to provide an Al/Ti ratio in the range of from 50:1 to 600:1; and recovering a substantially amorphous, random ethylene-propylene copolymer having a tacticity index m/r in the range of from 2.5 to 4 as determined by ¹³C NMR spectra.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
243 words
A process for producing substantially amorphous, ethylene/propylene copolymers which comprises reacting from 70 to 96.5 wt. % propylene and from 3.5 to 30 wt.% ethylene at a temperature of from 55°C (130°F) and 80°C (175°) and at a reactor pressure sufficient to maintain propylene in the liquid phase, in the presence of from about 0.7 to about 3.0 mol % hydrogen based on the monomer feed to the process and employing as catalyst a composition comprising: (a) a solid catalyst component obtainable by (i) co-comminuting magnesium halide support base and aluminium trihalide in a molar ratio from 8:0.5 to 8:3 in the absence of added electron donor and (ii) then co-comminuting the product of step (i) in the absence of added electron donor with sufficient titanium tetrahalide to provide a molar ratio of magnesium halide to titanium tetrahalide from 8:0.4 to 8:1; and (b) a co-catalyst component comprising a mixture of from 15 to 100 mol % of trialkyluminium having from 1 to 9 carbon atoms in each alkyl group and 85 to 0 mol % of an alkylaluminium halide having at least one halide group per molecule and from 1 to 9 carbon atoms in the alkyl group in a sufficient quantity to provide an Al/Ti ratio in the range of from 50:1 to 600:1; and recovering a substantially amorphous, random ethylene-propylene copolymer having a tacticity index m/r in the range of from 2.5 to 4 as determined by ¹³C NMR spectra.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the catalyst composition comprises magnesium chloride, aluminium trichloride, titanium tetrachloride, triethylaluminium and ethylaluminium chloride.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted at a pressure from 2.9 Mpa (400 psig) to 3.8 MPa (550 psig) and a temperature from 65°C (150°F) to 70°C (160°F).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the magnesium halide to aluminium trihalide ratio is from 8:1 to 8:1.5.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the magnesium halide to titanium tetrahalide ratio is from 8:0.4 to 8:0.6.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the triethylaluminium content of the co-catalyst mixture is from 40 to 60 mol %.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the co-catalyst component consists of about 100% trialkylaluminium and the ethylene content of the recovered copolymer is no more than 15 wt %.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the Al/Ti ratio is maintained at from 90:1 to 300:1.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the hydrogen is maintained from 1.2 to 2.5 mol % based on the total monomer feed to the process.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 9 carried out under continuous conditions at an average residence time of from 1 to 3 hours.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
28 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the solids content of the reactor slurry is maintained at from 30 to 60 wt. %.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the catalyst composition has an activity of at least 7000 kg polymer/kg Ti catalyst/hour.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
20 words
A process according to claim 12 wherein the recovered copolymer has a total ash content of less than 500 ppm.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
A process according to claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the recovered copolymer has a titanium content of no more then 2 ppm.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 14 wherein the recovered copolymer has a melt viscosity of from 100 to 25,000 mPa s @ 190.5°C (375°F).
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 15 wherein the recovered copolymer has a ring and ball softening point of from 113°C (235°F) to 150°C (300°F).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
26 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 16 wherein the recovered copolymer has a needle penetration value between about 1 and about 7.5mm.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
A process according to any one of claims 1 to 17 wherein the recovered copolymer has an open time of from 10 to 60 seconds.