Polymerization of liquid olefins in the presence of a boron fluoride-phosphoric acidcatalyst

Claim 1

THE PROCESS OF PREPARING HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT LIQUID OLEFIN POLYMERS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF CONTACTING LIQUID OLEFINS HAVING 6 TO 25 CARBON ATOMS IN A POLYMERIZATION ZONE WITH A POLYMERIZATION CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A COORDINATION COMPLEX OF ABOUT ONE MOLE OF BORON FLUORIDE PER MOLE OF PHOSPHORIC ACID THE VOLUMETRIC MAINTAINING A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 70* TO 300*F. IN SAID POLYMERIZATION ZONE, PASSING AN EXTRANEOUS STREAM OF BORON TRIFLUORIDE THROUGH SAID POLYMERIZATION ZONE, WITHDRAWING A MIXTURE OF LIQUID REACTION PRODUCT AND CATALYST FROM SAID POLYMERIZATION ZONE AFTER A RESIDENCE TIME OF ABOUT 0.25 TO 3.0 HOURS THEREIN, MAINTAINING SAID MIXTURE IN A SETTLING ZONE WHEREBY TWO SEPARATE LIQUID LAYERS ARE FORMED, AN UPPER HYDROCARBON LAYER SELECTIVELY CONTAINING THE DESIRED HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT LIQUID OLEFIN POLYMERS HAVING ABOUT TWICE AS MANY CARBON ATOMS PER MOLECULE AS THE OLEFINIC FEED AND A LOWER CATALYST LAYER CONTAINING LOWER MOLECULAR WEIGHT OLEFINS, AND WITHDRAWING SAID UPPER LAYER FROM SAID SETTLING ZONE.