Ether blends via reactive distillation
AssigneeGas Technologies LLC
InventorsIan Lawrence Gaffney, Evan Michael Visser, Krishna K. Rao, Walter Breidenstein
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Abstract
A method for forming a blend of ethers from a blend of alcohols includes a step of reacting a hydrocarbon-containing gas with an oxygen-containing gas to form first product blend. The first product blend includes a blend of partially oxygenated compounds. The blend of partially oxygenated compounds is provided to a reactive distillation station where it is converted a second product blend. The second product blend typically includes a mixture of ethers. An apparatus implementing the method is also provided.
Claims8
An apparatus for forming a blend of ethers from a blend of partially oxygenated compounds, the apparatus comprising:
- a) a reactor for reacting a hydrocarbon-containing gas with an oxygen-containing gas to form first product blend, the first product blend including a blend of partially oxygenated compounds that includes alcohols and aldehydes wherein the hydrocarbon-containing gas is reacted with the oxygen-containing gas at pressures from about 450 to 1250 psia and temperatures from about 350 to 450° C.;
- and
- b) a reactive distillation station in fluid communication with the reactor, the reactive distillation station receiving and converting the blend of partially oxygenated compounds to a second product blend at the reactive distillation station, the second product blend including a mixture of ethers and a component selected from the group consisting of C2-10 esters, methylene glycol ethers and combinations thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.