Polymerization method

Claim 1

The method of polymerizing or copolymerizing ethylene which comprises polymerizing or copolymerizing said ethylene under polymerizing conditions in the presence of an alkyl aluminum cocatalyst and an olefin polymerization and copolymerization catalyst active in the presence of said cocatalyst, said catalyst being prepared by the consecutive steps of: (a) preactivating and drying particles of silica by heating said particles at between about 200° C. and 900° C.; (b) reacting said dry particles in the presence of a hydrocarbon solvent with butyl alcohol and a complex of the general formula (MgR 2 ) m (AlR 3' ) n wherein R and R' are the same or different alkyl groups of 2 to 10 carbon atoms and m/n is between about 0.5 to 10, inclusive, to form a reaction mixture of said solvent and a first reaction product insoluble in said solvent, the molar ratio of said alcohol to said magnesium complex being in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0; (c) thereafter reacting said first reaction product in said reaction mixture with a halogen-containing titanium compound to form a second reaction product, the molar ratio of said magnesium compound to said titanium compound being about 1.0, and between about 2.25 and 2.50 mmoles of said titanium compound being present per gram of silica, said titanium compound comprising TiX 4 wherein X is a halogen atom; and (d) removing said solvent from said second reaction product.

Claim 2

The method of polymerizing or copolymerizing ethylene which comprises polymerizing or copolymerizing said ethylene under polymerizing conditions in the presence of an alkyl aluminum cocatalyst and an olefin polymerization and copolymerization catalyst active in the presence of said cocatalyst, said catalyst being prepared by the consecutive steps of: (a) preactivating and drying particles of silica by heating said particles at between about 200° C. and 900° C.; (b) reacting said dry particles in the presence of a hydrocarbon solvent with butyl alcohol and a complex of the general formula (MgR 2 ) m (AlR 3' ) n wherein R and R' are the same or different alkyl groups of 2 to 10 carbon atoms and m/n is between about 0.5 to 10, inclusive, to form a reaction mixture of said solvent and a first reaction product insoluble in said solvent, the molar ratio of said alcohol to said magnesium complex being in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0; (c) thereafter reacting said first reaction product in said reaction mixture with a halogen-containing titanium compound to form a second reaction product, the molar ratio of said magnesium compound to said titanium compound being about 1.0, and between about 2.25 and 2.50 mmoles of said titanium compound being present per gram of silica, said titanium compound comprising TiX 4 wherein X is a halogen atom; and (d) removing said solvent from said second reaction product.