Process for the recovery of spent fluorinated sulphonic acid catalyst in an alkylation process

Abstract

Process for the recovery of fluorinated sulphonic acid catalyst from tar being formed during alkylation of hydrocarbons in the presence of the fluorinated sulphonic acid catalyst and containing spent fluorinated sulphonic acid catalyst in form of salts with basic components in the tar, which process comprises, treating the tar with an alkyl ester of sulphuric acid to form a fluorinated sulphonic acid alkyl ester; separating the obtained ester from the tar by stripping the ester off the tar with an inert stripping agent; and finally recovering the separated sulphonic acid alkyl ester from the stripping agent.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.