Polypropylene Manufacture via Bulk-Phase Technology

Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer formed by the polymerization

of 10,000–20,000 monomers of propylene. With a global market of about 60
million metric tons per year, PP is the second most-used polymer globally.

More than 35% of the world’s total PP is produced using LyondellBasell’s

(Houston; www.lyondellbasell.com) Spheripol technology.

Technology Description
In Spheripol technology, polymerization is carried out in liquid propylene (a
bulk-slurry process) in tubular loop reactors. This type of reactor has a high
heat-removal capacity and avoids polymer deposition on reactor walls.

A polypropylene homopolymer production process via a bulk-slurry process

similar to LyondellBasell Spheripol is depicted in the flowsheet. The process
shown is capable of producing both homopolymer and random copolymer PP.
For impact copolymer production, the addition of a gas-phase reactor is
required. In this process, liquid propylene contacts a solid catalyst inside a
loop reactor. The process can be separated into three main areas:
purification and reaction; polymer degassing and pelletizing; and monomer
recovery.
Reaction and Purification
In this stage, fresh polymer grade (PG) propylene is sent to fixed-bed dryers
for removal of water and other potential catalyst poisons. The catalyst and
part of the purified propylene are continuously fed to the prepolymerization
reactor. This forms a protective shell around the catalyst particle, which
decreases the occurrence of fouling. The remaining fresh and recovered
propylene are fed into two loop reactors in series. In the case of copolymer
production, ethylene comonomer is also added to the reactors.

Polymer Degassing and Pelletizing

The slurry from the reactor is discharged into two pressure vessels to
separate the unreacted monomer from the polymer. The polymer receives a
steam treatment to deactivate the catalyst, and is then dried. Following that,
the product is combined with additives and then flows to the pelletizing unit.
The polymer pellets are cooled and sent to a product blending-and-storage
system. The monomer stream that is recovered from the steam-treatment
vessel is sent to a scrubber for water removal.

Monomer Recovery
The gas from the high-pressure degasser is directly sent to the propylene
scrubber. The propylene-recovered streams from the steam scrubber and
low-pressure degasser are washed with an anti-fouling agent before being
compressed and sent to the propylene scrubber, where the monomer is
separated from polymer residues and recycled to the reaction area. A
fraction of the recycle monomer stream is sent to a propylene-propane
splitter column (inside the purification area of the propylene supplier, if the
plant is part of an integrated petrochemical complex) for purification.

Economic Performance
An economic evaluation of the bulk-phase polypropylene process was
conducted, based on data from the fourth quarter of 2012. The evaluation
concerns a plant with a nominal capacity of 350,000 ton/yr erected in the
U.S. Gulf Coast region (the required process equipment is represented in the
simplified flowsheet). Two scenarios were analyzed:

 Integrated scenario. This case corresponds to a PP plant that is linked to a

propylene supplier. This nearby unit continuously provides PG propylene at
prices below the market average, and receives impure propylene for
purification. Thus, no storage for propylene is required. However, storage
of products is equal to 20 days of operation.
 Non-integrated scenario. This case corresponds to a grassroots unit. Thus,
20 days of operation was considered for both products and raw materials.
In addition, this scenario includes a propane-propylene splitter.
The level of integration with nearby facilities significantly impacts the capital
expenses required for the construction of a PP plant. The chart shows the
evaluation of capital expenses for both scenarios. Furthermore, the elevated
market prices for propylene makes it unprofitable to operate a stand-alone
PP unit in the U.S., when compared to the propylene production cost of
integrated plants.