Technology

Name

Univation UNIGILITY

Owner

/ Univation Technologies, LLC

Brand

UNIGILITY™ Tunular HP PE Process Technology

Process

Polyethylene processes

Type

High-Pressure Polymerization of Ethylene

Available

Process history

Univation announced launch of UNIGILITY™ Tubular High Pressure PE Process as a licensed manufacturing platform for flexible production of LDPE and EVA resins in June 2024, which is based on Dow’s tubular high pressure PE manufacturing platform^[1]. The UNIGILITY™ Tubular High Pressure PE Process Technology page is claiming 80⁺ years high-pressure LDPE operational excellence^[2], which likely refers to Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) acquiring the autcoclave high-pressure process as part of a war-time agreement with the inventors of polyethylene, ICI^[3]. Later, UCC developed the high-pressure ethylene polymerization tubular reactor process described in US Patent 4,000,357^[4]. Prior to The Dow Chemical Company (TDCC) acquiring all of the shares of UCC stock, and UCC becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of TDCC in February 2001^[5], patents filed by Dow mention high-pressure polymerization of ethylene in an autoclave reactor and a tubular reactor connected in series with said autoclave reactor in that sequential order^[6]. It is only after acquisition of UCC that Dow filed patents related to the high pressure ethylene polymerization tubular reactor process^[7]. Furthermore, the Dow Chemical / UCC European merger procedure from May 2000 establishes that Dow does not license its high pressure technology (which at the time presumable was an autoclave process with a tubular reactor tail^[6]) to third parties, whereas UCC is active only in the licensing of high pressure tubular process technology^[8].

Process characteristics

Operating capacity: 350 KTA
Design Capacities up to 500 KTA
Reference plant in USA^[2]

Product Portfolio

LDPE Products	EVA Products
> 30 grades offered MI 0.15 – 20 Density 0.917- 0.928 Enhanced MWD capability	> 20 grades offered EVA MI 0.7 – 150 VA content up to 28%^[2]

Process Flow Diagram

Attached illustration is a schematic of a polymerization flow scheme^[7g]. As seen in the illustration, the notations are as follows^[7f]:

fresh ethylene is fed through line 1;
discharge of Primary A compressor is sent through line 2;
discharge of Primary B compressor is sent through line 3;
4 and 5 are each a line feed to the Hyper compressor;
fresh Chain Transfer Agent (CTA) is fed through each of lines 6 and 7
8 is a line feed to feed lines 20 and 21, each to the side of the reactor;
9 is a line feed from the Hyper compressor to the front of the reactor;
10 is a line feed from the reactor to the HPS (High Pressure Separator);
11 is a line feed from the High Pressure Separator (HPS) to the Low Pressure Separator (LPS);
12 is a discharge line from the LPS;
13 is a line feed from the LPS to the Booster;
14 is a discharge feed from the Booster;
15 is a recycle feed line from the HPS to lines 16 and 17;
16 is a purge line;
17 is a recycle line;
18 and 19 are recycled lines to the Hyper compressor.