Hydroalkylating process
AssigneeExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.
InventorsGabor Kiss, Keith H. Kuechler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An alkylating process such as hydroalkylating process comprising feeding a gas material and a liquid material into the reactor, distributing the liquid material to the upper surface of a bed of a catalyst substantially uniformly. The substantial uniform distribution of the liquid material to the upper surface allows for substantially uniform distribution of liquid reaction medium in the bed, thereby preventing hot spot and undesirable continuous liquid zone, both of which can cause the production of undesired by-products. The invention is particularly useful for the hydroalkylation reaction of benzene in making cyclohexylbenzene, which can be used for making cyclohexanone and phenol.
Claims24
A hydroalkylation process, the process comprising:
- (I) supplying hydrogen and an aromatic compound into a hydroalkylation reactor;
- (II) contacting the hydrogen and the aromatic compound with a hydroalkylation catalyst comprising a first hydrogenation metal component and an alkylation component in a first reaction zone in the hydroalkylation reactor to obtain a first reaction mixture comprising hydrogen, an alkylated aromatic compound and an olefin;
- and
- (III) contacting the first reaction mixture with a hydrogenation catalyst comprising a second hydrogenation metal component and essentially free of an alkylation component in a second reaction zone in the hydroalkylation reactor to obtain a second reaction mixture.
A process for making phenol and/or cyclohexanone, the process comprising:
- (A) producing cyclohexylbenzene by:
- (I) supplying hydrogen and benzene into a hydroalkylation reactor;
- (II) contacting the hydrogen and benzene with a hydroalkylation catalyst comprising a first hydrogenation metal component and an alkylation component in a first reaction zone in the reactor to obtain a first reaction mixture comprising hydrogen, cyclohexylbenzene and phenylcyclohexene;
- and
- (III) contacting the first reaction mixture with a hydrogenation catalyst comprising a second hydrogenation metal component and essentially free of an alkylation component in a second reaction zone in the hydroalkylation reactor to obtain a second reaction mixture comprising cyclohexylbenzene;
- (B) oxidizing at least a portion of the cyclohexylbenzene in the second reaction mixture to obtain an oxidation product comprising cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide;
- and
- (C) subjecting at least a portion of the cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide in the oxidation product to cleavage to obtain a cleavage product comprising phenol and cyclohexanone.
A hydroalkylation reactor comprising a vessel comprising:
- at least one upper port through which H2 and an aromatic compound can be fed into the vessel;
- a bed of a hydroalkylation catalyst in proximity to but below the at least one upper port comprising a first hydrogenation metal component and an alkylation component in a first reaction zone;
- a bed of a hydrogenation catalyst comprising a second hydrogenation metal component and essentially free of an alkylation component in a second reaction zone below the first reaction zone;
- and
- at least one lower port below the bed of the hydrogenation catalyst through which the hydroalkylation effluent can exit the reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.