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US 12,194,444 B2Granted
Process and catalyst to convert methanol and toluene to styrene
AssigneeExelus, Inc.
InventorsMitrajit Mukherjee, Vamsi Vadhri
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Abstract
The invention provides methods, catalysts and systems for producing styrene from DME and toluene. Zeolite catalysts comprising potassium, rubidium or cesium and containing at least 0.1 wt % B are described. Methods of making the catalysts are also described.
Claims20
A method of producing styrene, comprising:
- passing dimethyl-ether (DME) and toluene into a reaction chamber comprising a catalyst;
- wherein the catalyst comprises a zeolite comprising zeolite X or zeolite Y wherein 50-80% of the exchangeable sodium in the zeolite is replaced by Group 1 alkali metal salts of potassium, rubidium or cesium and the catalyst contains at least 0.1 wt % boron;
- and
- reacting the DME and the toluene in the reaction chamber in the presence of the catalyst to make styrene under steady state conditions such that the catalyst has an Activity Parameter of at least 0.02 and a Selectivity Parameter of at least 0.1.
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A method for making styrene comprising:
- generating DME by dehydration of methanol;
- providing a reaction zone containing a catalyst, wherein the catalyst comprises a zeolite comprising zeolite X or zeolite Y wherein at least 50% of the exchangeable sodium in the zeolite is replaced by Group 1 alkali metal salts of potassium, rubidium or cesium and the catalyst contains at least 0.1 wt % boron;
- providing feed-streams of toluene and DME to the reaction zone;
- reacting toluene and DME in the reaction zone at a temperature between 300 to 500° C. and a pressure between 1 atm and 10 atm, under steady state conditions such that the catalyst has an Activity Parameter of at least 0.02 and a Selectivity Parameter of at least 0.1, to form a first product stream comprising styrene and water;
- at least partially separating the first product stream to form a styrene product stream;
- and
- removing unreacted toluene from the first product stream and recycling the unreacted toluene to the reaction zone.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.