Promoters for controlling acidity and pore size of zeolite catalysts for use in alkylation
AssigneeFina Technology, Inc.
InventorsKevin Kelly, James Butler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A metal-modified alkylation catalyst including a metal/zeolite is provided where the metal is one or two selected from the group consisting of yttrium and a rare earth of the lanthanide series other than cerium. Where two metals are used, one may be Ce or La. The metal-promoted zeolite is useful as a molecular sieve aromatic alkylation catalyst for the production of ethylbenzene by the ethylation of benzene in the liquid phase or critical phase. An alkylation product is produced containing ethylbenzene as a primary product with the attendant production of heavier alkylated by-products of no more than 10-60 wt % of the ethylbenzene.
Claims6
A beta zeolite molecular sieve alkylation catalyst comprising a zeolite promoted with a promoter comprising:
- a first ion is selected from the group consisting of yttrium, lanthanide series metals having an atomic number of at least 59 and combinations thereof;
- and
- a second, different ion is selected from the group consisting of yttrium, cerium, a rare earth of the lanthanide series other than lanthanum and combinations thereof, wherein the zeolite has a promoter ion/aluminum atomic ratio within the range of from about 0.1 to about 10.
A process for preparing a beta zeolite molecular sieve alkylation catalyst promoted with a promoter comprising:
- synthesizing a zeolite by hydrothermally digesting a reaction mixture comprising silica, alumina, an alkali metal oxide and an organic templating agent;
- treating the synthesized zeolite at least once with an ion-exchange medium to exchange a portion of the active sites in the zeolite with ammonium ion;
- calcining the ion-exchanged zeolite at least once;
- incorporating two metals into the zeolite system by treating the ion-exchanged zeolite with an ion-exchange medium comprising a metal salt solution to obtain a metal/zeolite, where the two metals comprise:
- a first metal selected from the group consisting of yttrium, lanthanide series metals having an atomic number of at least 59 and combinations thereof;
- and
- a second, different metal selected from the group consisting of yttrium, cerium, a rare earth of the lanthanide series other than lanthanum and combinations thereof, wherein the zeolite has a promoter ion/aluminum atomic ration within the range of from about 0.1 to about 10;
- fixing the metal/zeolite with a binder to produce a mulled metal/zeolite binder mixture;
- and
- pelletizing the metal/zeolite binder mixture and drying the resulting pellets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.