EFFECTS OF REACTION AND PROCESSING PARAMETERS ON ETHYLENE POLYMERIZATION USING DIFFERENT ZIEGLER-NATTA CATALYSTS：EMPLOYMENT OF TAGUCHI EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND RESPONSE SURFACE METHOD

Different Ziegler-Natta catalysts were employed to polymerize ethylene. To investigate the influences of reaction parameters, namely Al/Ti molar ratio, hydrogen and processing parameters, i.e. ethylene pressure and temperature, a Taguchi experimental design was worked out. An L27 orthogonal array was chosen to take the above-mentioned parameters and relevant interactions into account. Response surface method was the tool used to analyze the experimental design results. Al/Ti, ethylene pressure and temperature were selected as experimental design factors, and catalyst activity and polymerization yield were the response parameters. Increasing pressure, due to an increment in monomer accessibility, and rising Al/Ti, because of higher reduction in the catalysts, cause an increase in both polymerization yield and catalyst activity. Nonetheless, a higher temperature, thanks to reducing ethylene solubility in the slurry medium and partially catalyst destruction, lead to a reduction in both response parameters. A synergistic effect was also observed between temperature and pressure. All catalyst activities will reduce in the presence of hydrogen. Molecular weight also shows a decline in the presence of hydrogen as a transfer agent. However, the polydispersity index remains approximately intact. Using SEM, various morphologies, owing to different catalyst morphologies, were seen for the polyethylene.     

EFFECT OF ANIONIC SURFACTANT UPON THE VISCOSITY OF POLYMER GUAR GUM SOLUTIONS

The reduced viscosity of polymer guar gum solutions containing a certain concentration of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate （SDBS） was measured. It has been found that the Huggins coefficient kH of polymer solutions is very sensitive to the concentration of the surfactant, CSDBS, in solutions. If CSDBS is lower than CMC, the critical micelle concentration of SDBS, kH increases rapidly with CSDBS. On the other hand, if CSDBS is larger than CMC, kH decreases rapidly with CSDBS. Comparatively, the intrinsic viscosity of polymer solution does not show a notable change with CSDBS. The experimental results indicate that the interchain association of polymer guar gum in solution is greatly associated with SDBS interacted with polymer chains through hydrogen bonds. However, the effect of SDBS upon the intrachain association of polymer guar gum solution is negligible, presumably due to the fact that guar gum is a slightly stiffened random-coil chain polymer.