THE EFFECT OF REACTION PARAMETERS ON CATALYTIC ACTIVITY IN THE POLYMERIZATION OF ETHYLENE USING SUPPORTED AND UNSUPPORTED METALLOCENE CATALYSTS

The catalytic activities of two metallocene compounds, EtInd(2)ZrCl(2) and Ind(2)ZrCl(2), in the polymerization of ethylene depend heavily o n certain parameters, such as Zr concentration in the reaction, type o f the reactor, and stirring speed for homogeneous catalysts. One way o r another, all these factors influence the catalytic activity of these systems, but catalyst concentration and stirring speed are the most i mportant ones. In the case of heterogeneous catalysts of the same meta llocenes, the most pronounced influence is related to the type of supp ort and its porous nature. The influence of the support on activity an d morphology is shown. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.