H-1L Type High Efficiency Slurry Catalyst Secures a Leading International Level

The project “Commercial application test of TH-1L type high-efficiency slurry catalyst” jointly implemented by SINOPEC’s Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP) and Qilu Petrochemical Company (QPC) has passed experts’ appraisal which was held in Beijing recently. The experts team has unanimously admitted that this catalyst feactures excellent performance and remarkable economic benefits to reach an internationally advanced level.

The TH-1L high-efficiency slurry catalyst is a core technology in the field of gas-phase ethylene polymerization process. Currentrly China boasts a total polyethylene production capacity of 10 Mt/a, in which the gas phase ethylene polymerization process accounts for 54.3% of total PE capacity to oocupy a pivotal position. Starting 2005, RIPP and QPC have been engaging in the development of the TH-1L slurry catalyst for polymerization of ethylene. After eight-year-long strenuous efforts in tackling the problem these two institutions have developed the highefficiency slurry catalyst and a novel charging device to secure a commanding lead in this technical area.

The TH-1L high-efficiency slurry catalyst has been prepared according to a new preparation process and formulation to enhance its activity, which is about ten times the activity of currently used solid M-1 catalyst. The catalyst preparation process does not use silica gel as the catalyst support to significantly reduce the catalyst cost and simplify the manufacture process flow diagram. Adoption of the novel feeder has allowed for avoidance of online reduction equipment that is required by the overseas catalyst preparation technology. The patents relating to the TH-1L slurry catalyst have been granted by China, the US and other countries.

The TH-1L slurry catalyst has been smoothly operating in a 120 kt/a gas phase fluidized bed reactor for 2600 hours at QPC, while successfully cranking out a total of 36.56 kt of polyethylene resins, including the LDPE film DFDA7042, the MDPE material DNDB7149U, the HDPE extrusion material DGD6084A, and the high transparency PE QLLF30, with all PE granules featuring stable quality and homogeneous size without fine powder.