Company (Gulf) Process The Gulf linear alpha olefin process is commonly called a catalytic Ziegler process. Triethyl aluminium is used as a catalyst, but in catalytic amounts the process is a single-step process. Tri-ethyl aluminium and excess ethylene are fed to a plug flow-reactor. The reaction is conducted at high pressure and high temperature. Excess ethylene is flashed off. The tri-ethyl aluminium catalyst is washed out of the product with caustic and the linear alpha olefins are separated. The product distribution is a Schultz-Flory distribution typical of catalytic processes. Applications There are a wide range of applications for linear alpha olefins. The lower carbon numbers, 1-butene, 1-hexene and 1-octene are overwhelmingly used as comonomer in production of polyethylene. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) use approximately 2-4% and 8-10% of comonomers, respectively. Another significant use of C4-C8 linear alpha olefins is for production of linear aldehyde via oxo synthesis (hydroformylation) for later production of short-chain fatty acid, a carboxylic acid, by oxidation of an intermediate aldehyde, or linear alcohols for plasticizer application by hydrogenation of the aldehyde. The predominant application of 1-decene is in making polyalphaolefin synthetic lubricant basestock (PAO) and to make surfactants in a blend with higher linear alpha olefins. C10-C14 linear alpha olefins are used in making surfactants for aqueous detergent formulations. These carbon numbers may be reacted with benzene to make linear alkyl benzene (LAB), which is further sulfonated to linear alkyl benzene sulfonate (LABS), a popular relatively low cost surfactant for household and industrial detergent applications. Although some C14 alpha olefin is sold into aqueous detergent applications, C14 has other applications such as being converted into chloroparaffins. A recent application of C14 is as on-land drilling fluid basestock, replacing diesel or kerosene in that application. Although C14 is more expensive than middle distillates, it has a significant advantage environmentally, being much more biodegradable and in handling the material, being much less irritating to skin and less toxic. C16 - C18 linear olefins find their primary application as the hydrophobes in oil-soluble surfactants and as lubricating fluids themselves. C16 - C18 alpha or internal olefins are used as synthetic drilling fluid base for high value, primarily off-shore synthetic drilling fluids. The preferred materials for the synthetic drilling fluid application are linear internal olefins, which are primarily made by isomerizing linear alpha-olefins to an internal position. The higher internal olefins appear to form a more