Temperature control and efficient heat transfer are important to producing
high quality polymer drag reducing agents from alpha-olefin and/or other monomers.
Many polymerization reactions are exothermic, and controlling or minimizing the
exotherm combined with low reaction temperatures yields high molecular weight and,
for poly(alpha-olefins), high quality drag reducing agent polymers. It has been
found that a shell and tube heat exchanger-type reactor, with the inner tubes hosting
the reaction mixture and a coolant circulating through the shell side gives good
temperature control. The use of appropriate release agents helps to keep the inner
reaction chambers from building up any polymer residue. These reactors can be operated
in a continuous filling and harvesting mode to facilitate the continuous production
of polymer drag reducing agent and related formulations.
