Importance

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Abstract

Olefin polymerization catalysts of the type prepared by (1) drying an inorganic oxide, such as silica, having surface hydroxyl groups to remove adsorbed water, (2) slurrying the dried inorganic oxide in an inert liquid hydrocarbon, such as a hydrocarbon boiling in the C.sub.4 -C.sub.8 range, (3) reacting the surface hydroxyl groups of the dried inorganic oxide with an organometallic compound, such as a trialkylaluminum, and (4) reacting the thus-treated support with a vanadium compound, such as vanadium oxytrichloride, are made reproducibly uniform at commercial scale by modifying the catalyst syntheses so as to (a) conduct the reactions with agitation in an amount of inert liquid hydrocarbon such as to provide a weight/unit volume solids content of about 10 to 50% and (b) add the vanadium compound to the agitated slurry of treated inorganic oxide particles at a rate such as to ensure substantially uniform coverage of those particles with the vanadium compound as it reacts therewith. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the organometallic compound is also added to the agitated slurry at a rate such as to ensure substantially uniform coverage of the inorganic oxide particles with the organometallic compound as it reacts with the surface hydroxyl groups.

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First Claim