Application background
The customer's world-scale polyethylene line was experiencing accelerated polymerization catalyst deactivation traced to trace arsine and carbonyl sulfide breakthrough from an aging olefin purification bed.
Feed gas & process conditions
| Gas | Ethylene + 1-butene comonomer feed |
|---|---|
| Flow | 60 t/h liquid ethylene, 8 t/h comonomer |
| Pressure | 4.0 MPa (g) |
| Temperature | 40 – 80 °C |
| Inlet impurities | AsH₃ 20 ppb, PH₃ 10 ppb, COS 100 ppb, O₂ 500 ppb |
| Outlet requirement | All poisons < detection limit |
Main impurity challenge
Simultaneous removal of arsine, phosphine, COS and oxygen from a hot olefin stream without olefin polymerization on the guard bed.
Recommended product
Olefin Purification Catalysts
Kaiteli OPC-As / OPC-DeOxy Guard-Bed Package
Multi-layer guard bed combining Cu/Ni-based deoxy, arsine absorbent and COS hydrolysis catalyst.
Technical result
- All poisons reduced below detection at the polymerization inlet.
- Ziegler-Natta polymerization catalyst life extended by > 40%.
- Guard-bed change-out interval extended from 12 to 30 months.
Customer value
Recovered lost production capacity, reduced polymerization catalyst consumption and lowered off-spec polymer generation — payback in under 8 months.