Regeneration of clay catalysts for alkylation of aromatic rings
AssigneeChemtura Corporation
InventorAlan B. True
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Abstract
Catalysts, in particular clay catalysts, use in alkylation reaction of aromatic compounds, e.g., aromatic amines, that have lost activity during use, are regenerated by contacting the used catalyst with a mixture of a minor amount of an acid, in a mixture with water and an organic solvent. The regeneration process is readily incorporated into an alkylation process for aromatic amines.
Claims17
A process for treating a clay catalyst that has lost at least a portion of its catalytic activity due to use in an alkylation reaction of an aromatic compound, said process comprising contacting said clay catalyst with a regeneration mixture comprising from 0.1 to 20 wt % of an acid, 1 to 45 wt % of water, and 35 to 98.9 wt % of an organic solvent, in an amount that is at least sufficient to fully wet the catalyst, at a temperature of from 25 to 200° C., for from 0.5 to 36 hours, during which time the clay catalyst has regained at least a portion of its lost activity resulting in a regenerated clay catalyst, and then separating the regenerated clay catalyst from the regeneration mixture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.