Ethylbenzene Badger process

These operations have been gradually replaced by the Mobd-Badger process (28), which employs an acidic ZSM-5 catalyst and produces ethylbenzene using both pure and dilute ethylene sources. In both cases, the alkylation is accomplished under vapor-phase conditions of about 425°C,... 

Eig. 4. Mobil—Badger process for ethylbenzene production H = heater Rx = reactor P = prefractionator BC = benzene recovery column ... 

Figure 5 illustrates a typical distillation train in a styrene plant. Benzene and toluene by-products are recovered in the overhead of the benzene—toluene column. The bottoms from the benzene—toluene column are distilled in the ethylbenzene recycle column, where the separation of ethylbenzene and styrene is effected. The ethylbenzene, containing up to 3% styrene, is taken overhead and recycled to the dehydrogenation section. The bottoms, which contain styrene, by-products heavier than styrene, polymers, inhibitor, and up to 1000 ppm ethylbenzene, are pumped to the styrene finishing column. The overhead product from this column is purified styrene. The bottoms are further processed in a residue-finishing system to recover additional styrene from the residue, which consists of heavy by-products, polymers, and inhibitor. The residue is used as fuel. The residue-finishing system can be a flash evaporator or a small distillation column. This distillation sequence is used in the Fina-Badger process and the Dow process. 

ABB Lummus Crest Inc. and Unocal Corp. have Hcensed a benzene alkylation process usiag a proprietary zeoHte catalyst. Unlike the Mobil-Badger process, the Unocal-Lummus process is suitable for either ethylbenzene or cumene manufacture (27,28). 

All lation. An exceUent example of alkylation is the Mobil-Badger process, which uses ZSM-5-type zeoHte to produce ethylbenzene by alkylation of benzene with ethylene (12,40) ... 

Figure 10-2. The Badger process for producing ethylbenzene (1) reactor, (2) fractionator (for recovery of unreacted benzene), (3) EB fractionator, (4) polyethylbenzene recovery column.

EBMax A continuous, liquid-phase process for making ethylbenzene from ethylene and benzene, using a zeolite catalyst. Developed by Raytheon Engineers and Constructors and Mobil Oil Corporation and first installed at Chiba Styrene Monomer in Japan in 1995. Generally similar to the Mobil/Badger process, but the improved catalyst permits the reactor size to be reduced by two thirds. 

A more recent development in ethylbenzene technology is the Mobil-Badger process,161,314-316 which employs a solid acid catalyst in the heterogeneous vapor-phase reaction (400-45O C, 15-30 atm). A modified H-ZSM-5 catalyst that is regenerable greatly eliminates the common problems associated with... 

Alkylation by zeolites made a major entry in the field of industrial catalysis through the highly acclaimed Mobil-Badger process for ethylbenzene (Csicsery, 1984, Hoelderich et al., 1988 Hoelderich and Van Bekkum, 1991) by replacing the toxic, eco-unfriendly, corrosive Friedel-Crafts reaction. A modified version developed by the National Chemical Laboratory (the Albene process), using a similar class of catalysts known as Encilites, is particularly suited to alkylation by ethyl alcohol of any concentration down to 30% (Bhowmik and Ratnasamy, 1991). 

The alkylation of benzene with ethylene in the gas phase was first achieved in 1942. Initially, Al203/Si02 was used as a catalyst, but this was replaced later by P40io/Si02. However, transalkylation is not complete when these catalysts are applied and the yield is unsatisfactory. Since 1980, zeolite catalysts have found application in gas-phase production of ethylbenzene. The Mobil-Badger process uses a ZSM-5-zeolite catalyst at a temperature of 420 to 430 °C and a pressure of... 

Another method to remove benzene is to react it with propylene or ethylene (benzene alkylation) to produce propylbenzene (cumene) or ethylbenzene. Commercial benzene alkylation processes in the chemical industry have been known for many years. Typically these processes require fairly pure benzene and ethylene feed. The shape selective ZMS-5 catalyst is used as a basis for ethylbenzene synthesis in the Mobil-Badger process (Chen et. al, 1989). ZSM-5 is very selective in this process as a result this process is currently used in the chemical industry to produce about 25% of world s ethylbenzene. Currently there are 12 operating Mobil-Badger EB units including a recent Shell Chemical unit which uses FCC off-gas as the ethylene feedstock source. 

The aromatics alkylation with olefins is a well-known technology, especially in the case of ethylbenzene (a Mobil-Badger process [109]) and cumene production [110], Ethylbenzene synthesis can be catalyzed by diverse modified HZSM-5, BEA, rare-earth Y, and MCM-22 zeohtes. In most cases, the selectivity is pretty high (99%), but the process must be carried out at a large excess of benzene and the conversion of the latter typically does not exceed 20-25% at 400°C and WHSV= 3 h . For cumene production, a few commercial processes have been developed by CD-Tech (Y zeolite), Lummus-Unocal (Y zeolite), Enichem (H-BEA), Mobil-Raytheon (MCM-22), Dow Chemical (dealuminated mordenite (MOR)), and UOP (a Q-Max process with MgSAPO-31). 

Vapor-Phase Processes. Although vapor-phase alkylation has been practiced since the early 1940s, it could not compete with Hquid-phase processes until the 1970s when the Mobil—Badger vapor-phase ethylbenzene process was introduced (Eig. 4). The process is based on Mobil s ZSM-5 zeohte catalyst (38,52,53). The nonpoUuting and noncorrosive nature of the process is one of its major advantages over the AlCl hquid-phase system. 

Two catalysts have emerged as commercially viable. The Mobil—Badger ethylbenzene process, which has been in commercial use since 1980, employs a ZeoHte catalyst and operates in the gas phase. A Hquid-phase ethylbenzene process joindy Hcensed by Lummus and UOP uses a Y-type ZeoHte catalyst developed by Unocal. This Hquid-phase process was commercialized in 1990. The same Y-type ZeoHte catalyst used for the production of ethylbenzene is being offered for the production of cumene but has not yet been commercialized. 

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