Process for producing polyolefins and polyolefin catalysts

Claim 2

A process for producing polyolefins having bimodal molecular weight distribution comprising: polymerizing under polymerization conditions in a polymerization zone at least one olefin in the presence of an amount of hydrogen and a heterogeneous catalyst system comprising: (a) an amount of at least two different metallocenes selected from mono, di, and tri-cyclopentadienyls and substituted cyclopentadienyls of a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Group IVB, VB, and VIB transition metals, each having different termination rate constants of olefin polymerization in the presence of hydrogen, and (b) an amount of an aluminoxane, wherein the initial amount of hydrogen, metallocenes, and aluminoxane in said polymerization zone is sufficient to produce a polyolefin having a bimodal molecular weight distribution.

Claim 3

The process according to claim 1 wherein the polymer produced is a high density polyethylene homopolymer having a density of at least about 0.95 determined according to ASTM standard 2839-69.

Claim 4

The process according to claim 1 wherein said polymerization conditions comprise slurry phase polymerization conditions.

Claim 5

The process according to claim 3 wherein said slurry phase polymerization conditions comprise a temperature of about 80° to 110° C., and a pressure of about 250 to 700 psia, for a time between about 1 minute to 6 hours.

Claim 6

The process according to claim 4 wherein said slurry phase polymerization conditions comprise a pressure of about 400 to 600 psia, for a time between about 10 minutes to 2 hours.

Claim 7

The process according to claim 5 wherein said slurry phase polymerization conditions comprise a pressure of about 500 to 565 psia, for a time between about 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Claim 8

The process according to claim 1 wherein said aluminoxane is methylaluminoxane.

Claim 9

The process according to claim 1 wherein said olefin is a mono-1-olefin selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, and mixtures thereof, and said transition metals are titanium and zirconium.

Claim 10

The process according to claim 8 wherein the molar ratio of zirconium to titanium is within the range of about 0.01:1 to 99:1, the hydrogen concentration is within the range of about 0.001 to 15 mole percent, and the olefin concentration is within the range of about 99.999 to 85 mole percent.

Claim 11

The process according to claim 9 wherein the zirconium to titanium molar ratio is about 1:1 to 30:1, the amount of hydrogen introduced into the polymerization zone is about 1 to 10 mole percent, and the amount of olefin introduced into the polymerization zone is about 99 to 90 mole percent.

Claim 12

The process according to claim 10 wherein the zirconium titanium molar ratio is about 16:1, the amount of hydrogen introduced into the polymerization zone is about 4 mole percent and the amount of olefin introduced into the polymerization zone is about 96 mole percent.

Claim 13

The process according to claim 9 wherein the weight ratio of total metallocenes to aluminoxane is within the range of about 1:5 to 1:10 8 .

Claim 14

The process according to claim 12 wherein the weight ratio of total metallocenes to aluminoxane is within the range of about 1:10 to 1:10 5 .

Claim 15

The process according to claim 13, wherein the weight ratio a total metallocenes to aluminoxane is within the range of about 1:20 to 1:10 3 .

Claim 16

The process according to claim 1 wherein said olefin is ethylene, said at least two different metallocenes are bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dimethyl and bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium dimethyl in a molar ratio between about 1:1 to 30:1 respectively, said aluminoxane is methylaluminoxane, said polymerization conditions comprise slurry phase polymerization conditions, said polyolefin is high density polyethylene, the hydrogen concentration is within the range of about 1 to 10 mole percent, and the olefin concentration is within the range of about 99 to 90 mole percent.

Claim 17

The process according to claim 15 wherein the diluent to catalyst system weight ratio is within the range of about 500:1 to 1,000,000:1.

Claim 18

The process according to claim 1 wherein said at least two different metallocenes are represented by the general formula (C 5 R'm)pR"s(C 5 R'm)MeQ 3 -p or R"s(C 5 R'm) 2 MeQ' wherein (C s R'm) is cyclopentadienyl or substituted cyclopentadienyl, each R can be the same or different and is selected from hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl radical selected from alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, alkylaryl, or arylalkyl radicals having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms or two adjacent carbon atoms are joined together to form a C 4 -C 6 ring, R" is a C 1 -C 4 alkylene radical, a dialkyl germanium or silicone or alkyl phosphine or amine radical bridging two (C 5 R'm) rings, Q is a hydrocarbon radical such as aryl, alkyl, alkenyl, alkylaryl, or arylalkyl radicals having from 1-20 carbon atoms or halogen and can be the same or different, Q' is an alkylidene radical having from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, Me is a Group IVB, VB, or VIB metal, s is 0 or p is 0, 1 or 2, when p is 0, s is 0; m is 4 when s is 1 and m is 5 when s is 0.

Claim 19

The process according to claim 1 wherein said catalyst system is made according to the process comprising: bubbling a wet inert gas through a hydrocarbon containing an amount of said at least two different metallocenes, and an amount of an aluminum compound of the formula AlR 3 wherein each R can be the same or different and is selected from alkyl groups having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, thereby producing a dual metal on aluminoxane polymerization catalyst.

Claim 20

A process according to claim 1 wherein said catalyst system is halogen free.

Claim 21

A process according to claim 19 wherein said at least two different metallocenes are represented by the general formula (C 5 R'm)pR"s(C 5 R'm)MeQ 3 -p or R"s(C 5 R'm) 2 MeQ' wherein (C 5 R'm) is cyclopentadienyl or substituted cyclopentadienyl, each R can be the same or different and is selected from hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl radical selected from alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, alkylaryl, or arylalkyl radicals having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms or two adjacent carbon atoms are joined together to form a C 4 -C 6 ring, R' is a C 1 -C 4 alkylene radical, a dialkyl germanium or silicone or alkyl phosphine or amine radical bridging two (C 5 R'm) rings, Q is a hydrocarbon radical such as aryl, alkyl, alkenyl, alkylaryl, or arylalkyl radicals having from 1-20 carbon atoms or halogen and can be the same or different, Q' is an alkyldiene radical having from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, ME is a Group IVB, VB, or VIB metal, s is 0 or 1, p is 0, 1 or 2, when p is 0, si is 0; m is 4 when s is 1 and m is 5 when s is 0.

Claim 22

A process according to claim 1 wherein said polymerization zone contains a diluent selected from the group consisting of isobutane, n-hexane, n-heptane, methylcyclohexane, and mixtures of two or more thereof.

Claim 23

The process according to claim 21 wherein said olefin is ethylene, said at least two different metallocenes are bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dimethyl and bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium dimethyl in molar ratio between about 1:1 to 30:1 respectively, said aluminoxane is methylaluminoxane, said polymerization conditions comprise slurry phase polymerization conditions, said polyolefin is high density polyethylene, the hydrogen concentration is within the range of about 1 to 10 mole percent, and the olefin concentration is within the range of about 99 to 90 mole percent based on total hydrogen and olefin.

Claim 24

A process of altering the bimodal molecular weight distribution of a polyolefin comprising: varying the initial amount of hydrogen present during the polymerization of an olefin in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst system under polymerization conditions comprising (a) at least two different metallocenes selected from mono, di, and tri-cyclopentadienyls and substituted cyclopentadienyls of a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Group IVB, VB, and VIB transition metals, each having different termination rate constants of olefin polymerization in the presence of hydrogen, and (b) an aluminoxane thereby producing a polyolefin having a varied bimodal molecular weight distribution.

Claim 25

A process of altering the bimodal molecular weight distribution of a polyolefin comprising: varying the initial amount of hydrogen present during the polymerization of an olefin in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst system under polymerization conditions comprising (a) at least two different metallocenes selected from mono, di, and tri-cyclopentadienyls and substituted cyclopentadienyls of a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Group IVB, VB, and VIB transition metals, each having different termination rate constants of olefin polymerization in the presence of hydrogen, and (b) an aluminoxane thereby producing a polyolefin having a varied bimodal molecular weight distribution.

Claim 26

A process according to claim 23 wherein said catalyst system is halogen free.

Claim 27

The process according to claim 24 wherein said olefin is ethylene, said at least two different metallocenes are bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dimethyl and bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium dimethyl in a molar ratio between about 1:1 to 30:1 respectively, said aluminoxane is methylaluminoxane, said polymerization conditions comprise slurry phase polymerization conditions, said polyolefin is high density polyethylene, the hydrogen concentration is within the range of about 1 to 10 mole percent, and the olefin concentration is within the range of about 99 to 90 mole percent olefin.

Claim 28

A process for producing polyolefins having bimodal molecular weight distribution comprising: polymerizing under polymerization conditions at least one olefin in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst system comprising (a) at least two different metallocenes selected from mono, di, and tri-cyclopentadienyls and substituted cyclopentadienyls of a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Group IVB, VB, and VIB transition metals, each having different termination rate constants of olefin polymerizations in the presence of hydrogen and (b) an aluminoxane, wherein the improvement comprises the addition of hydrogen during the polymerization to alter the bimodalmolecular weight distribution of the resulting polymer.

Claim 29

A process for producing polyolefins having bimodal molecular weight distribution comprising: polymerizing under polymerization conditions at least one olefin in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst system comprising (a) at least two different metallocenes selected from mono, di, and tri-cyclopentadienyls and substituted cyclopentadienyls of a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Group IVB, VB, and VIB transition metals, each having different termination rate constants of olefin polymerizations in the presence of hydrogen and (b) an aluminoxane, wherein the improvement comprises the addition of hydrogen during the polymerization to alter the bimodalmolecular weight distribution of the resulting polymer.

Claim 30

A process according to claim 26 wherein said catalyst system is halogen free.