AbstractThe possibility of multiple steady states for a polymer particle is examined for propylene and ethylene, liquid and gas phase polymerizations. It is shown that multiple steady states should not occur in conventional diluent slurry polymerizations, but are always a possibility for gas phase and bulk propylene slurry reactions. Simulations to determine particle temperatures as a function of particle diameter show that polymer melting is predicted immediately upon catalyst injection for many cases in a gas phase reactor and for some cases in bulk polymerization. The practical implications of this result are discussed.
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