Development of antistatic agents for commercial gas-phase polyolefin reactors

精细聚合物粉末可在气相聚合反应器和粉末输送管线中获得静电荷，当高电荷粉末粘附到反应器壁上时，这可由于颗粒-颗粒粘附和反应器结垢而引起附聚物的形成，从而导致不期望的副产物和商业反应器的过早关闭。 由于缺乏合适的工具来量化粉末电荷和粉末组合物的复杂性，聚合物粉末的静电学通常探索得很差。基于我们近年来取得的丰富经验，我们建议应用两种新技术，一个在现场电荷监测装置和一个在线法拉第杯流化床测试装置，探索潜在的抗静电剂控制和减少静电电荷的商业气相聚合反应器，在合作与NOVA化学公司在卡尔加里。拟议的工作重点是量化充电特性的各种聚烯烃粉末和抗静电剂在实验室测试单位位于UBC和试点工厂测试单位位于NOVA化学研究中心。对静电荷产生机制的更好理解和从这项工作中开发的新技术有望帮助该行业开发新的策略，以减少商业反应器中的电荷产生和积累，从而提高生产率并防止由于反应器结垢而导致的过早关闭过程。

Fine polymer powders may acquire electrostatic charges in gas-phase polymerization reactors and powder transfer lines, which may give rise to formation of agglomerates due to particle-particle adhension and reactor fouling when Highly charged powders adhere to reactor walls, leading to undesirable by-products and premature shut-down of the commercial reactors.      Electrostatics has generally been poorly explored for polymeric powders due to the lack of suitable tools for quantifying powder charges and the complexity of powder compositions. Based on our extensive experience attained in recent years, we propose to apply two novel techniques, one in-situ charge monitoring device and one on-line Faraday cup fluidized bed test unit, to explore potential antistatic agents for control and reduction of electrostatic charges in commercial gas-phase polymerization reactors, in collaboration with NOVA Chemicals company in Calgary. The proposed work focuses on quantifying charging characteristics of various polyolefin powders and antistatic agents in both laboratory test units located at UBC and pilot plant test unit located at NOVA Chemicals research centre. The improved understanding of electrostatic charge generation mechanisms and new technologies to be developed from this work are expected to help the industry to develop new strategies to reduce charge generation and buildup in commercial reactors, leading to increased productivity and the prevention of premature process shut-down due to reactor fouling.