Decompositions in the production of low density polyethylene: Reasons, consequences and prevention

In the production of low density polyethylene by free radical polymerization of ethylene at high pressure, ethylene and polyethylene occasionally decompose to carbon, hydrogen and methane resulting in an enormous increase of pressure and temperature. Huge explosions occur in a polymerization reactor and in other parts of the installation. In addition to the well known reasons of decompositions, in this work it is pointed out that the polymerization under critical entropy conditions is an additional cause of explosions, which has not been recognized and elaborated in scientific literature and industrial practice.