Reactor Feed

Ethylene is the primary raw material used in the high-pressure process. The ethylene feed must have a purity of at least 99.9% and be virtually free of olefins, acetylenes, and dienes.

The raw material is first compressed into an intermediate pressure by a primary compression stage. Because of the pressure required for polymerization, some plants use several compression stages to prepare the ethylene for the reactor.

The highly compressed fluid is then pumped into the reactor through a long-jacketed tube or stirred autoclave. High pressure pumps inject the free-radical catalysts, usually organoperoxides, directly into the reactor.

Read on to find out more about reaction conditions.