Patents Assigned to Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
  • Patent number: 6441309
    Abstract: A cable having one or more electrical conductors or a core of electrical conductors, each conductor or core being surrounded by a layer of a composition having at least about 95 percent by weight of a very low density polyethylene (VLDPE) which has a number average molecular weight in the range of about 10,000 to about 20,000; a CHMS equal to or greater than about 4.5 percent by weight as determined by SEC; and a HMS having a number average molecular weight equal to or greater than about 500,000.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Jinder Jow, Burkhard Eric Wagner, Gary Stanley Cieloszyk
  • Patent number: 6429270
    Abstract: Catalysts that have been preactivated and/or prepolymerized are disclosed whereby a magnesium and titanium-containing procatalyst component is contacted with a co-catalyst and an external electron donor (and optionally with an olefin monomer to prepare a prepolymerized catalyst) prior to polymerization to form a preactivated and/or prepolymerized catalyst. The preactivated and/or prepolymerized catalyst then is separated from the mixture, and dried to form a solid preactivated and/or prepolymerized catalyst. This dried catalyst then can be stored and subsequently shipped to a polymerization site where it can be used in gas phase polymerization. The preactivated and/or prepolymerized catalyst can be used in gas phase polymerization as extremely high activity catalysts, and do not cause a rapid rise in reaction temperature causing overheating, undesirable formation of agglomerates, coagulation of polymer, and ultimately, reactor failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventor: David Bell Morse
  • Patent number: 6426026
    Abstract: Disclosed is a process for pelletizing high melt flow crystalline polymers to produce crystalline pellet products. The process includes feeding a polyolefin granular or pelleted polymer into a melting/mixing mechanism to provide a molten polymer material. The molten polymer material is optionally passed through a melt pump and through a die to form a plurality of molten polymer strands. The plurality of molten polymer strands then are passed through or along a water trough declined with respect to the direction of the horizontal arrays where they are sprayed with cool liquid a plurality of times in such a manner that the sprayed cool liquid creates turbulent flow and disturbs a thin film of hot water and/or steam that forms around each molten polymer strand as it is cooled without undesirable axial acceleration of the polymer strands. Subjecting the molten polymer strands to such a cooling procedure produces cooled polymer strands, which then are fed to a cutting mechanism and cut into pellets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Marios Avgousti, Edward Allen Leach, Alex Kharazi
  • Patent number: 6426394
    Abstract: Methods of polymerizing olefins in the gas phase using unsupported catalyst compositions are disclosed. At least one olefin monomer is polymerized in a gas phase reactor in the presence of an unsupported liquid catalyst composition whereby the method reduces reactor fouling by maintaining the partial pressure of the primary olefin monomer that is polymerized below about 240 psi. in the reactor. The invention is particularly useful for, but is not limited to polymerizing propylene or copolymerizing propylene with olefins having two or more carbon atoms. The method described herein produces a polymer product having controlled, uniform particle size, narrow molecular weight distribution, high bulk density and stereoregularity, and prevents and/or inhibits reactor fouling during catalyst delivery and during polymerization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Kersten Anne Erickson, Jody M. Moffett
  • Patent number: 6417129
    Abstract: A catalyst composition for polymerization of olefins comprising: (ia) a catalyst precursor corresponding to the formula: MgdTi(ORe)eXf(ED)g, wherein Re is an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 14 carbon atoms or COR′ wherein R′ is an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 14 carbons atoms; X is halide; ED is an organic Lewis base electron donor; d is 0.5 to 56; e is 0, 1, or 2; f is 2 to 116; and g is 1.5d+2 (ib) an aluminum trialkyl or aluminum alkyl halide cocatalyst compound; and (ii) a lanthanide compound represented by the following formula: CpaLnRbbLc wherein Cp is a cyclopentadienyl or substituted cyclopentadienyl ligand; Ln is a lanthanide metal; Rb is a hydride, alkyl, silyl, halide, or aryl group; L is an electron donor; a+b is the valence of the lanthanide metal; and c is a number from 1 to 8.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Donna Marie Brown
  • Patent number: 6416624
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods for the spray application of additive compositions containing additive materials in the manufacture of sheet material products, such as paper products, textile products, and flexible sheet products by using compressed fluids, such as carbon dioxide and ethane, as a spraying medium. Additive compositions with high viscosity and which are substantially free of water and/or volatile solvent can be applied to sheet materials. Water-borne additive compositions with reduced water content can also be applied to sheet materials. One preferred spray method uses a decompressive spray of the compressed fluid which produces a uniform spray pattern and a narrow droplet size distribution that can improve application efficiency and quality when additive compositions are applied during the spraying step to rapidly conveyed sheet materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Kenneth A. Nielsen, Jeffrey D. Goad, Duane F. Baumert, Richard S. Cesaretti
  • Patent number: 6403748
    Abstract: A set of trim forward bins is utilized to set aside, distribute and allocate portions of granular product made in a continuous, usually fluidized bed, olefin polymerization reactor, to form blends which more efficiently utilize the products made during transitions from one set of specifications to another and/or to maintain a target property substantially continuously during steady state production of a single product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Kim Dwight Powers, Jeff Scott Levin, Mark Louis Nelson, Jose Cavetano Jaen, Carlos Ray Morris
  • Patent number: 6403523
    Abstract: The present invention provides a catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of a lower hydrocarbon to form at least one higher hydrocarbon and/or lower olefin. In one embodiment, the catalyst includes a nonstoichiometric rare earth oxycarbonate of the formula MXCYOZ having a disordered and/or defect structure, wherein M is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm; X=2; Z=3+AY; A is less than about 1.8, and Y is the number of carbon atoms in the oxycarbonate. When used for the oxidative dehydrogenation of a lower hydrocarbon at a pressure above about 100 psig, the catalyst has a selectivity of at least about 40% to at least one higher hydrocarbon and/or lower olefin. Methods for preparing catalysts taught by the invention and processes for using the catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of lower hydrocarbons are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Rick David Cantrell, Anca Ghenciu, Kenneth Dwight Campbell, David Michael Anthony Minahan, Madan Mohan Bhasin, Alistair Duncan Westwood, Kenneth Andrew Nielsen
  • Patent number: 6399531
    Abstract: A solid self-supported hybrid catalyst is disclosed which contains (i) a Ziegler-Natta catalyst component including at least one group IVB metal-containing alkoxide or aryloxide; and (ii) Cp, where Cp is a cycloalkadienyl hydrocarbon having from 3-30 carbon atoms. A method of making the self-supported hybrid catalyst and a method of polymerizing olefins using the catalysts also are disclosed. The catalysts are capable of producing polyolefins in high yield having a broad molecular weight distribution, or a bimodal molecular weight distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Charles Job, Walter Thomas Reichle
  • Patent number: 6399837
    Abstract: A method of polymerizing at least one olefin comprising contacting the olefin with a catalyst composition comprising: 1) a procatalyst composition comprising a magnesium and titanium-containing component and an electron donor compound of the structure: wherein R1 is ethoxy, and R2 is an alkoxy group having from one to ten carbon atoms, and R3-R6 are each individually, hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, hydrocarboxy, nitro, a silyl group or a halogen, 2) a cocatalyst and optionally 3) a selectivity control agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Stanley Edward Wilson, Robert Converse Brady, III
  • Patent number: 6391986
    Abstract: A process, carried out in the gas phase, comprising contacting one or more olefins with a catalyst system containing a carrier gas and a mixture of solids comprising a transition metal compound or complex and a liquid organic solvent, under polymerization conditions, in a fluidized bed reactor containing resin particles in a fluidized state with the provisos that (a) the mixture of solids and solvent contains at least about 95 percent by weight solids and (b) the mixture is sprayed with the carrier gas into a particle-lean zone, or the fluidized bed, of the reactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Gregory Goode, Clark Curtis Williams
  • Patent number: 6391985
    Abstract: A fluidized bed olefin polymerization process is operated in the turbulent regime while utilizing greater than 17.5% liquid in the recycle fluid to remove the heat of reaction. The ratio of fluidized bed density to settled bed density may, contrary to prior art predelictions, be maintained at lower than 0.59.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Gregory Goode, Mark Williams Blood, William George Sheard
  • Patent number: 6388027
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for transitioning from polymerizing sticky polymer to polymerize another sticky polymer in gas phase fluidization bed production to decrease transition time, reduce off-grade material, and/or prevent operational difficulty.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel Paul Zilker, Jr., William David Vacek, Mark Edwin O'Rosky, Fathi David Hussein
  • Patent number: 6387842
    Abstract: This invention relates in part to a processes and catalysts for the conversion of a feedstock comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen to a product stream comprising at least one of an ester, acid, acid anhydride and mixtures thereof. This invention also relates in part to processes and catalysts for converting an alcohol, ether and/or ether alcohol feedstock to oxygenated products, e.g., esters, acids, acid anhydrides and mixtures thereof. The processes and catalysts are especially suitable for the production of acetic acid and methyl acetate from a synthesis gas feedstock or from an alcohol, ether or ether alcohol feedstock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Richard William Wegman, David Michael Minahan, William J. Bartley, Chinsoo Stephen Lee, David McNeill Somerville
  • Patent number: 6388051
    Abstract: A process for selecting and extruding a copolymer having improved extrusion processability comprising (a) selecting one or more copolymers of ethylene and one or more alpha-olefins having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, each of said copolymers having essentially no long chain branching and having (1) a melt index selected from the range of about 0.1 to about 20 grams per 10 minutes, and (2) a melt flow ratio having at least about a value determined by the following formula: 2.7183 to the power of {(1.477 minus [0.279 times the natural logarithm of the selected melt index]) divided by 0.29} and (b) extruding said copolymer around an electrical conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Jinder Jow, Alfred Mendelsohn
  • Patent number: 6384157
    Abstract: A method is provided to monitor, detect and correct local defluidization and channeling in fluidized-bed reactors for polymerization of olefin and/or diolefin polymers. The detection is preferably conducted by (i) continuously and/or intermittently comparing a signal which is a function of the currently measured fluidization bulk density with a signal which is a function of the time-averaged baselines of fluidized bulk density.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Ping Cai, Ivan Jeremy Hartley, Kiu Hee Lee, Lance Lyle Jacobsen
  • Patent number: 6384156
    Abstract: A process for producing polymer in a gas phase reactor by introducing a stream of monomer and gas into a polymerization zone while providing at least one liquid component in the polymerization zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Joseph Noel Bernier, Robert Lorenz Boysen, Robert Cecil Brown, Mark Gregory Goode, John Henry Moorhouse, Robert Darrell Olson, Leonard Sebastian Scarola, Thomas Edward Spriggs, Duan-Fan Wang, Gary Harry Williams, Kevin Joseph Cann, Maria Angelica Apecetche, Natarajan Muruganandam, Gregory George Smith
  • Patent number: 6365695
    Abstract: Liquid catalyst composition is fed to a fluidized bed olefin polymerization reactor through an ultrasonic nozzle, enabling improved control over average catalyst composition droplet size and size distribution, which provides better control over resin particle size. The spray may be surrounded by a shroud of gas which creates a particle lean zone, thus reducing the likelihood of contact by the catalyst composition with existing product particles already suspended in the fluid bed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Arakalgud Venkatapathia Ramamurthy, Clark Curtis Williams
  • Patent number: 6365681
    Abstract: In a polymerization reaction, an upset is anticipated and inhibited by monitoring at least one reaction condition and comparing it to the desired value or normal range for the condition as projected by a computer model for the variable or variables of the process. In a preferred variation, the process not only continuously adjusts the set point or range for an upset-significant variable such as temperature, but also utilizes the rate of change of such a variable as a harbinger of an upset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Ivan Jeremy Hartley, John Roberts Parrish, Paul Kevin Samples, Darrell James Long
  • Patent number: 6358372
    Abstract: A method of removing at least one inert reaction diluent and/or wash solvent from a waste stream from a catalyst precursor production unit is disclosed, where the waste stream includes at least one reaction diluent or wash solvent, at least one titanium alkoxide, at least one magnesium alkoxide, and at least one alkanol. At least one inert reaction diluent and/or wash solvent is removed by contacting the waste stream with a solubilization solvent, and then subjecting the resulting stream to distillation. The solubilization solvent: (i) is present in an amount sufficient to maintain solubility of residual titanium and magnesium alkoxide species; (ii) has a boiling point higher than that of the one or more reaction diluent and/or wash solvent; and optionally but preferably (iii) does not form an azeotrope with the one or more reaction diluent and/or wash solvent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Michael Philip Zum Mallen