PRODUCTION
N e w Catalyst Has High Activity Commercial plants being built will hydroîsomerize light paraffins at low temperatures ACS NATIONAL MEETING Petroleum Chemistry
Sometimes its better to let Eastman make it
When you
72 C & EN APRIL 20, 1959
h ..is develo-Ocd a noble metal-containing solid hydroisomerization catalyst so active and selective that it permits isomerizatioii of light paraffins substantially to equilibrium at temperatures in t h e r a n g e of 2 0 0 ° to 500° F . In making the first public announcement ot t h e new catalyst, clubbed L O P type I-A, Vladimir Haensel, in a paper coauthored xvith H e r m a n S. Block and George R. O o n aldson, all of U O P , said t h a t two c o m mercial plants which will isomerize normal butane are under construction and will be in operation this year. T h e Division of Petroleum Chemistry recognized the growing i m p o r t a n c e of isomerizatioii a n d related processes b y devoting a full-day symposium t o the subject. In his introductory remarks, R. C. Zabor of Gulf Research & D e v e l o p m e n t stated that the b i g upsurge in interest in hydrocarbon isomerizatioii processes is a result of the refiner's continually improving gasolines to keep pace with the automotive industry. After the refiner has t h e maximum catalytic cracking and catalytic reforming operations in his refinery, the next two processes he should consider a r e paraffm-olefin alkylation a n d paraffin isomerizatioii. Both of t h e s e provide very high octane n u m b e r and cleanb u r n i n g isoparaffinic components w h i c h add a hydrocarbon-type b a l a n c e t o his final gasoline. This b a l a n c e cannot b e obtained by any other processes k n o w n to be commercially feasible today, a c cording to Zabor. • UOP W o r k . Some recent commercial installations use t h e UOP Pen ex process for the isomerizatioii of C n and C«; hydrocarbons, and u s e a catalyst identified as "1-3". Commercial performance from the s t a n d p o i n t of conversion, yield, and catalyst life h a s been good, Haensel reported. At the same time, it has been recognized t h a t the load on the separation facilities Avould b e reduced if higher conversion to the
more valuable desired isomers could b e attained. In general, higher conversion to the more valuable isomers in a onee-throughi operation is found at lower temperatures. T h e problem has been that until development of U O P ' s I-A, catalyst** c a p a b l e ot such low t e m p e r a u u t j conversion h a v e been of t h e expendable t y p e . T h e s e required continuous r e n e w a l of the active component, usually a Friedel-Crafts metal halide of t h e sludging type. UOP's new catalyst isomerizes b u tane, pentane, hexane, and pentanehexane mixtures at the low temperatures previously usable only with t h e expendable catalysts. Near-equilibrium conversions are attained with I-A with very high efficiencies. Most of the work at Universal lias been done with b u t a n e as feed, b u t preliminary laboratory results with p e n t a n e a n d hexane weie also reported. Conventional flow a p p a r a t u s e q u i p p e d with means for hydrogen recycle was used. Butane and p e n t a n e feed stocks were generally of C P quality and /i-hexane was of m o r e than 95'. c purity. W i t h b u t a n e as feed, there is little h y drocracking, and concentration of 63 t o 64f/t isobutane in the b u t a n e fraction is achieved. This is a 9 8 r/
