Alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons
AssigneeUnion Oil Company of California
InventorsJohn W. Ward, Texas V. Inwood
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Abstract
Highly stable and active catalysts are provided for the alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 olefins. The catalysts are extruded composites of an acidic, crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite, e.g. Y zeolite, and a porous mineral oxide binder. The basic novel feature of the invention resides in the shape and size of the catalyst extrudates. By shaping the extrudates so as to give a high ratio of external surface area to volume, resistance to deactivation is found to be much improved, as well as activity and selectivity.
Claims16
An alkylation process which comprises passing a mixture of a C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 olefin and a mole-excess of an alkylatable aromatic hydrocarbon through a fixed bed of an alkylation catalyst under alkylating conditions and recovering a desired alkylated hydrocarbon from the resulting product, said alkylation catalyst consisting essentially of a composite of an acidic crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite containing less than about 0.7 wt.% of Na.sub.2 O and a porous mineral oxide binder, said composite being in the form of substantially uniform sized extrudates having a maximum overall diameter between 0.03 and 0.08 inch, a length between 0.1 and 0.25 inch, and having a ratio of external surface area to volume of between 85 and 160 reciprocal inches.
A process for the manufacture of ethylbenzene which comprises passing a mixture of ethylene and a mole-excess of benzene through a fixed bed of an alkylation catalyst under alkylating conditions and recovering ethylbenzene from the resulting product, said alkylation catalyst consisting essentially of a composite of an acidic crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite containing less than about 0.7 wt.% of Na.sub.2 O and a porous mineral oxide binder, said composite being in the form of substantially uniform sized extrudates having a maximum overall diameter between 0.03 and 0.08 inch, a length between 0.1 and 0.25 inch, and having a ratio of external surface area to volume of between 85 and 160 reciprocal inches.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.