Continuous photochemical production of high purity linear mercaptan and sulfide compositions

An apparatus for producing a high purity product thiol from hydrogen sulfide and an olefin comprising:

• a reactor system configured to receive the hydrogen sulfide and the olefin and to produce a reactor effluent stream comprising the product thiol, unreacted hydrogen sulfide, unreacted olefin and other components, and wherein the reactor system is further configured to separate said reactor effluent stream into a first portion and a second portion and recycle said first portion of the reactor effluent stream back to the reactor system;
• a flash vaporizer in communication with the reactor system, wherein the flash vaporizer is configured to receive said second portion of the reactor effluent stream and to produce:
• a hydrogen sulfide recycle stream comprising at least a portion of the unreacted hydrogen sulfide, and a crude thiol stream comprising the product thiol, the unreacted olefin and the other components and wherein the flash vaporizer is configured to feed the hydrogen sulfide recycle stream to the reactor system;
• a crude thiol separation system comprising an olefin separation unit in communication with a secondary separation unit, and wherein:
• the olefin separation unit is in communication with the flash vaporizer and the reactor system, and is configured to:
• receive the crude thiol stream;
• produce an olefin recycle stream and a secondary stream;
• feed the olefin recycle stream to the reactor system;
• feed the secondary stream to the secondary separation unit;
• and
• wherein the secondary separation unit is in communication with the product thiol purification unit and is configured to:
• receive the secondary stream;
• and
• separate the secondary stream to produce the first by-product stream and the crude thiol product stream;
• a product thiol purification unit in communication with the crude thiol separation system, wherein the product thiol purification unit is configured to:
• receive the crude thiol product stream;
• produce a product thiol stream comprising purified product thiol comprising at least 98.5 weight percent of the product thiol and a second by-product stream comprising the second portion of the other components.

A process for producing a high purity product sulfide from hydrogen sulfide or R1SH, and an olefin of formula CxH(2x) comprising:

• feeding the hydrogen sulfide or the R1SH, and the olefin of formula CxH(2x) to a reactor system, wherein the reactor system is configured to:
• form a reactor effluent stream comprising the product sulfide, unreacted hydrogen sulfide or unreacted olefin of formula CxH(2x)), unreacted R1SH, and other components;
• separating said reactor effluent stream into a first portion and a second portion;
• recycling said first portion of the reactor effluent stream to the reactor system;
• feeding said second portion of the reactor effluent stream to a sulfide separation system, wherein the sulfide separation system is configured to:
• produce at least one recycle stream comprising at least a portion of the unreacted hydrogen sulfide, the unreacted olefin of formula CxH(2x), the unreacted R1SH, and other components, and a product stream comprising the high purity product sulfide.

An apparatus for producing a high purity product thiol from hydrogen sulfide and an olefin comprising:

• a reactor system comprising an absorption unit in communication with a reactor bank, wherein the absorption unit is configured to:
• receive the hydrogen sulfide and the olefin,
• form a liquid reactor bank feed stream comprising at least a portion of the hydrogen sulfide dissolved in the olefin and a recycled first portion of a reactor effluent stream, and feed a liquid reactor bank feed stream into the reactor bank;
• and wherein the reactor bank is configured to:
• receive the recycled first portion of the reactor effluent stream and the liquid reactor bank feed stream, and
• form the reactor effluent stream comprising the product thiol, unreacted hydrogen sulfide, unreacted olefin and other components;
• means to to separate said reactor effluent stream into a first portion and a second portion and recycle said first portion of the reactor effluent stream back to the reactor system;
• a flash vaporizer in communication with the reactor system, wherein the flash vaporizer is configured to receive said second portion of the reactor effluent stream and to produce:
• a hydrogen sulfide recycle stream comprising at least a portion of the unreacted hydrogen sulfide, and a crude thiol stream comprising the product thiol, the unreacted olefin and the other components and wherein the flash vaporizer is configured to feed the hydrogen sulfide recycle stream to the reactor system;
• a crude thiol separation system in communication with the flash vaporizer and the reactor system, wherein the crude thiol separation system is configured to receive the crude thiol stream, wherein the crude thiol separation system is configured to:
• separate at least a portion of the unreacted olefin from the crude thiol stream to produce an olefin recycle stream comprising the unreacted olefin, a first by-product stream comprising a first portion of the other components, and a crude thiol product stream comprising the product thiol and a second portion of the other components;
• and
• feed the olefin recycle stream to the reactor system;
• a product thiol purification unit in communication with the crude thiol separation system, wherein the product thiol purification unit is configured to:
• receive the crude thiol product stream;
• produce a product thiol stream comprising purified product thiol comprising at least 98.5 weight percent of the product thiol and a second by-product stream comprising the second portion of the other components.