Process for manufacturing petroleum sulfonates and the resultant products
AssigneeInstitut Francais du Petrole
InventorsRobert Aude, Pierre Baumgartner, Jean-Pierre Desmarquest, Jean-Pierre Franck
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Abstract
Petroleum sulfonates are manufactured by reacting a hydrocarbon stock with a sulfonating agent and neutralizing the sulfonation product. The hydrocarbon stock is pretreated with hydrogen, in the presence of a NiW or NiMo catalyst, under specified conditions: its sulfur content is decreased by at least 50%, but its aromatic hydrocarbon content is decreased by not more than 35%, so that the aromatic hydrocarbons content remains at least 20% b.w. after completion of the pretreatment.
Claims27
A process for manufacturing petroleum sulfonates, which comprises the steps of:
- (a) treating a hydrocarbon charge, having an aromatic hydrocarbon content of at least 20% by weight and an average molecular weight of at least 250, by contacting said charge with hydrogen in the presence of a carrier-supported NiW or NiMo hydrogenation catalyst having a Ni/W or Ni/Mo ratio, expressed as gram-atoms of the metals, of from 0.1:1 to 1:1, at a temperature of from 200.degree. to 450.degree. C., a total pressure of from 10 to 200 bars and an amount of hydrogen of at least 20 Nm.sup.3 per m.sup.3 of said hydrocarbon charge, said treatment with hydrogen being so effected as to decrease the sulfur content by at least 50% without decreasing the aromatic hydrocarbons content by more than 35%, the latter remaining at least 20% by weight after said treatment;
- (b) reacting the hydrotreated effluent from step (a) with a sulfonating agent comprising SO.sub.3 ;
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- (c) neutralizing the sulfonation product with a base and recovering the resultant neutralized sulfonated product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.