Integrated catalytic process for converting alkanes to alkenes and catalysts useful for same
OwnerAbraham Benderly, Wolfgang Ruettingerinventors
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Abstract
The present invention relates to an integrated multi-zone process for conversion of alkanes to their corresponding alkenes, involving exothermically converting a portion of an alkane to its corresponding alkene by oxidative dehydrogenation in an exothermic reaction zone, in the presence of oxygen and a suitable catalyst, and then feeding the products of the exothermic reaction zone to an endothermic reaction zone wherein at least a portion of the remaining unconverted alkane is endothermically dehydrogenated, in the presence of carbon dioxide and an other suitable catalyst.
Claims18
A process for conversion of a C2-C4 alkane to its corresponding C2-C4 alkene, said process comprising the steps of:
- A) contacting a C2-C4 alkane and oxygen with an upstream catalyst in an exothermic reaction zone, wherein the upstream catalyst is catalytically active for the exothermic conversion of the C2-C4 alkane to its corresponding C2-C4 alkene, in the presence of oxygen;
- and
- B) exothermically converting a portion of the C2-C4 alkane to the corresponding C2-C4 alkene, in the exothermic reaction zone, to produce a heated mixed product gas which comprises the corresponding C2-C4 alkene, unreacted C2-C4 alkane, and heat produced by said exothermically converting step;
- C) contacting the heated mixed product gas and a weak oxidant with a downstream catalyst in an endothermic reaction zone, wherein the downstream catalyst is catalytically active for the endothermic conversion of the unreacted C2-C4 alkane to the corresponding C2-C4 alkene, in the presence of the weak oxidant;
- D) endothermically converting at least a portion of the unreacted C2-C4 alkane to the corresponding C2-C4 alkene, in the endothermic reaction zone, to produce a cumulative product stream which comprises at least the corresponding C2-C4 alkene produced in each of the reaction zones.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.