Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, Vol.61, No.1, 693-697, 2016
Solubility of Ethene in n-Hexane and n-Heptane as Common Slurry-Phase Polymerization Solvents: Experimental Measurement and Modeling
To evaluate solvent performance, mass transfer calculation of gas-liquid phases and good prediction of catalyst activity and polymer product yield, precise experimental solubility data are required in slurry-phase ethene polymerization. The solubility of ethene in n-hexane and n-heptane as commercial solvent of ethene slurry-phase polymerization was measured at pressures from 0.18 to 1.6 MPa and temperatures ranging from 303 to 348 K. A static apparatus is used to measure the experimental data. The experimental data are modeled using Peng-Robinson cubic equation of state (PR CEOS) with vdW mixing rule with two adjustable parameters. The modeling results show the PR CEOS is capable to represent the experimental data well.