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US 5,493,059 AGranted
Process for preparing tertiary alkyl ethers and apparatus for reactive distillation
AssigneesEniricerche S.p.A., Snamprogetti S.p.A., Ecofuel S.p.A.
InventorsDomenico Sanfilippo, Maria Lupieri, Francesco Ancillotti
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Abstract
A process for the preparation of tertiary alkyl ethers, in particular methyl-tert.-butyl-ether (MTBE), from iso-olefins and aliphatic alcohols by means of a fractionation tower is disclosed, in which the main characteristic of the fractionation tower consists in that the reaction mixture is caused to flow through the catalytic trays in transversal direction relatively to the axis of the same fractionation tower.
Claims9
Process for preparing tertiary alkyl ethers from iso-olefins and aliphatic alcohols, comprising the following steps:
- feeding a feedstock containing at least the iso-olefin to a fractionation tower fitted with trays, wherein some of said trays are equipped with fixed catalyst beds;
- feeding at least a portion of the aliphatic alcohol at a point in the nearby of the head of the fractionation tower;
- reacting said iso-olefin with said alcohol on the fixed spaced catalyst bed bearing trays, with said fixed catalyst beds being submerged in the reactant mixture, to form a tert.-alkyl-ether product;
- separating the tert.-alkyl-ether product from any unreacted hydrocarbon, unreacted alcohol and azeotropic mixtures of alcohol and hydrocarbon as substantially pure ether obtained as a bottom product stream;
- and obtaining any unreacted hydrocarbons, unreacted alcohols, and azeotropic mixtures as an overhead stream,
- wherein in said tray-fitted fractionation tower the liquid reactant mixture flows through the fixed spaced catalytic beds in the catalytic trays in the cross direction relative to the axis of the fractionation tower.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.