Studies on the polymerization of ethylene using a high-yield MgCl2-supported titanium catalyst, 2. Kinetic studies

Polymerization of ethylene was carried out in a batch process under pressure with an optimized high-yield Ti/Mg-catalyst. It was shown through gas chromatography analysis as well as by educt/product mass balances that no side-reactions take place, and therefore, the monomer is quantitatively converted to polyethylene. It is demonstrated that influences of diffusion are excluded under the described experimental condition. The dependence of the overall polymerization rate on time shows that the rate at constant pressure is constant from the beginning over a certain period of time. The rate of polymerization under isobaric as well as isochoric conditions was determined to be first order with respect to monomer concentration and catalyst concentration. The overall activation energy obtained for this catalytic system was determined to be 32 kJ · mol^?1.