Integrated process for the production of ethylene-butylene copolymer, an ethylene-butylene copolymer and the use of ethylene and 1-butylene, as comonomer, sourced from renewable natural raw materials

Integrated process for the production of ethylene-butylene copolymers, the 1-butylene being the comonomer, the ethanol and the butanol being the raw materials, which are obtained from vegetable sourced materials, via fermentation of sugars extracted from them, comprising the steps of:

• a) producing sugars (2a) through extraction and processing of the vegetable sourced raw materials (1a);
• b) feeding the sugars stream (2b) to vat (2) under ethanol producing must fermentation conditions;
• c) distillation of the ethanol containing leavened must stream (3a) in distiller (4) for the separation of ethanol (4a);
• d) dehydration of ethanol in the ethanol stream (4a or 5a) in a dehydration reactor (6), for obtaining ethylene stream (6a), to be purified in distiller (9), producing ethylene (6b or 6c) to be fed to reactor (18);
• wherein said process further includes, in an integrated fashion, the following steps:
• e) dehydrogenation of a portion (5b) of the ethanol stream (4a), in a dehydrogenation reactor (7), for obtaining acetaldehyde stream (9a), and/or optionally feeding a portion (5c) of the ethanol stream (4a) to direct synthesis reactor (8), for directly obtaining the 1-butanol stream (9e);
• f) aldolic condensation of acetaldehyde stream (9a) from dehydrogenation reactor (7), in condensation reactor (12) for obtaining 3-hydroxy-butanal exit stream (9b);
• g) dehydration of 3-hydroxy-butanal (9b), from condensation reactor (12), in dehydration reactor (13), for obtaining crotonaldehyde exit stream (9c);
• h) hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde (9c), from dehydration reactor (13), in hydrogenation reactor (14), for obtaining 1-butanol (9d);
• i) optionally, feeding sugars stream (2c) to vats (3), under 1-butanol producing must fermentation conditions;
• j) distillation of 1-butanol containing leavened must stream (3b), in a distiller (5), for separating 1-butanol (9g);
• k) dehydration of 1-butanol from 1-butanol stream (9e), from step e), and/or from 1-butanol stream (9d), from step h), and/or from the mixtures thereof (9f), and/or from the fermentation of sugars in steps i) and j), in the presence of alumina, silica, silico-alumina, zeolites and other metallic oxides catalysts, with residence time varying from 0.1 to 60 seconds, and temperatures ranging from 150° C. to 380° C., in an adiabatic or isothermic, fluidized or fixed bed dehydration reactor (15), for obtaining butylene isomers mixture (10a);
• l) distillation of butylene isomers mixture stream (10a), from dehydration reactor (15), in distiller (16), which outputs 1-butylene stream (8c), and 2-butylene isomers stream (7b);
• m) isomerization of 2-butylene isomers stream (7b) in isomerization reactor (17), for obtaining 1-butylene and 2-butylene isomers mixture stream (8b) which returns to distiller (16);
• and
• n) polymerization of ethylene, from ethylene stream (6b or 6c), and 1-butylene from 1-butylene stream (8c), in polymerization reactor (18), for obtaining the ethylene-butylene copolymer (11a) which has 100% renewable natural origin carbon.

Integrated process for the production of ethylene-butylene copolymers, the 1-butylene being the comonomer, and the ethanol being the raw material, which is obtained from vegetable sourced materials, via fermentation of sugars extracted from them, comprising the following steps:

• a) producing sugars (2a) through extraction and processing of vegetable sourced raw materials (1a);
• b) feeding sugars stream (2a) to vat (2) under ethanol producing must fermentation conditions;
• c) distillation of ethanol containing leavened must stream (3a), in distiller (4), for separating the ethanol (4a);
• d) dehydration of ethanol from ethanol stream (4a or 5a), in dehydration reactor (6), for obtaining ethylene stream (6a), to be purified in distiller (9), for obtaining ethylene (6b or 6c) to be fed to reactor (18);
• wherein said process includes, in an integrated fashion, the following steps:
• e) dimerization of a portion (6d) of ethylene stream (6b), from step d), in dimerization reactor (10) for obtaining 1-butylene and 2-butylene isomers mixture (7a);
• f) distillation of 1-butylene and 2-butylene isomers mixture (7a), in distiller (23), for obtaining 1-butylene stream (8a) and 2-butylene isomers stream (8e);
• g) isomerization of 2-butylene isomers stream (8e), in isomerization reactor (11), for obtaining a 1-butylene and 2-butylene isomers stream (8f), which returns to distiller (23);
• h) polymerization of ethylene from the other portion (6c) of ethylene stream (6d), from step d), and 1-butylene from 1-butylene stream (8a), from step f), in polymerization reactor (18), for obtaining the ethylene-butylene copolymer (11a) which has 100% renewable natural origin carbon.