| abstract |
A highly energy efficient process for removing hydrocarbons from polymer slurries is disclosed. The process includes feeding a hydrocarbon-containing polymer slurry to a flash tank to flash a portion of the hydrocarbon from the slurry. Thereafter, the resulting slurry is fed to a fluid bed dryer wherein additional hydrocarbon is stripped from the polymer. Subsequently, the resulting polymer powder is transferred to a powder silo wherein further hydrocarbon is removed from the polymer utilizing a heated purge gas flowing countercurrent to the polymer powder. The polymer output preferably has a low hydrocarbon content, on the order of 100 ppm or less. |