A kinetic analysis on the gas phase polymerization of ethylene over polymer supported (CH3)2Si[Ind]2ZrCl2 catalyst

Kinetics of the gas phase polymerization of ethylene over polymer supported (CH3)2Si[Ind]2ZrCl2 catalyst is examined. It requires a two-site model to adequately describe the experimental results. The active sites seem to follow a first-order deactivation. The number of sites activated is dependent upon the cocatalyst (MAO) concentration level as well as temperature. It was observed that the decrease of activity at higher temperatures resulted from a strong dependency of the first-order decay rate constant on temperature. On the other hand, the propagation rate constants of two active sites show similar dependency on temperature.