Ethylbenzene manufacture

Zeoliltes seem particularly suited to take over the job and in fact are doing so already for aromatic alkylation. Thus in ethylbenzene manufacture (from benzene and ethene) modern processes apply zeolites (H-ZSM-5, H-Y) as the catalyst, substituting conventional processes based on AICI3 or BF3-on-alumina catalysis. Substantial waste reductions are achieved. 

On-purpose ethylbenzene manufacture will figure importantly in the chapter on styrene. 

A few years ago Monsanto at Texas City, Texas, decided to re-examine its position in ethylbenzene manufacture. Other processes were available or were becoming available and, as we have seen, the AICI3 chemistry was quite ancient. An examination of the other processes revealed that they too possessed certain serious shortcomings. One of many potential problems with a new process Is the risk involved in being the first to build a... 

The majority of the ethylbenzene manufactured in the world is produced by the classical Friedel-Crafts reaction involving the ethylation of benzene in the presence of aluminum chloride as a catalyst. It has been customary for the aluminum chloride to be present in fairly large amounts as a separate heavy... 

Ethylbenzene manufacture Economic data (France conditions, mid-1986) Production capacity 300,000 t/year... 

Figure 8.23 Ethylbenzene manufacture by liquid-phase alkylation of benzene...

Styrene is the monomer used to make polystyrene, which has a multitude of uses, the most common of which are in packaging and insulated Styrofoam beverage cups. Styrene is produced by the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene. Ethylbenzene is formed by reacting ethylene and benzene. There is very little ethylbenzene sold commercially, because most ethylbenzene manufacturers convert it directly into styrene. 

Benzene was first isolated by Faraday in 1825 from the liquid condensed by compressing oil gas. It is the lightest fraction obtained from the distillation of the coal-tar hydrocarbons, but most benzene is now manufactured from suitable petroleum fractions by dehydrogenation (54%) and dealkylation processes. Its principal industrial use is as a starting point for other chemicals, particularly ethylbenzene, cumene, cyclohexane, styrene (45%), phenol (20%), and Nylon (17%) precursors. U.S. production 1979 2-6 B gals. 

Friedel-Crafts alkylation using alkenes has important industrial appHcations. The ethylation of benzene with ethylene to ethylbenzene used in the manufacture of styrene, is one of the largest scale industrial processes. The reaction is done under the catalysis of AlCl in the presence of a proton source, ie, H2O, HCl, etc, although other catalysts have also gained significance. 

Propylene oxide [75-56-9] is manufactured by either the chlorohydrin process or the peroxidation (coproduct) process. In the chlorohydrin process, chlorine, propylene, and water are combined to make propylene chlorohydrin, which then reacts with inorganic base to yield the oxide. The peroxidation process converts either isobutane or ethylbenzene direcdy to an alkyl hydroperoxide which then reacts with propylene to make propylene oxide, and /-butyl alcohol or methylbenzyl alcohol, respectively. Table 1 Hsts producers of propylene glycols in the United States. 

Sales demand for acetophenone is largely satisfied through distikative by-product recovery from residues produced in the Hock process for phenol (qv) manufacture. Acetophenone is produced in the Hock process by decomposition of cumene hydroperoxide. A more selective synthesis of acetophenone, by cleavage of cumene hydroperoxide over a cupric catalyst, has been patented (341). Acetophenone can also be produced by oxidizing the methylphenylcarbinol intermediate which is formed in styrene (qv) production processes using ethylbenzene oxidation, such as the ARCO and Halcon process and older technologies (342,343). 

Xylene Isomeri tion. The objective of C-8-aromatics processing is the conversion of the usual four-component feedstream (ethylbenzene and the three xylenes) into an isomerically pure xylene. Although the bulk of current demand is for xylene isomer for polyester fiber manufacture, significant markets for the other isomers exist. The primary problem is separation of the 8—40% ethylbenzene that is present in the usual feedstocks, a task that is compHcated by the closeness of the boiling points of ethylbenzene and -xylene. In addition, the equiUbrium concentrations of the xylenes present in the isomer separation train raffinate have to be reestabUshed to maximize the yield of the desired isomer. 

Ethylbenzene. This alkylben2ene is almost exclusively used as an intermediate for the manufacture of styrene monomer [100-42-5]. A small amount (<1%) is used as a solvent and as an intermediate in dye manufacture (1,39,40). The current ethylben2ene growth rate projections for 1990—1995 range from 3.0 to 3.5%/yr (39). 

Styrene is manufactured from ethylbenzene. Ethylbenzene [100-41-4] is produced by alkylation of benzene with ethylene, except for a very small fraction that is recovered from mixed Cg aromatics by superfractionation. Ethylbenzene and styrene units are almost always installed together with matching capacities because nearly all of the ethylbenzene produced commercially is converted to styrene. Alkylation is exothermic and dehydrogenation is endothermic. In a typical ethylbenzene—styrene complex, energy economy is realized by advantageously integrating the energy flows of the two units. A plant intended to produce ethylbenzene exclusively or mostly for the merchant market is also not considered viable because the merchant market is small and sporadic. 

Styrene manufacture by dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene is simple ia concept and has the virtue of beiag a siagle-product technology, an important consideration for a product of such enormous volume. This route is used for nearly 90% of the worldwide styrene production. The rest is obtained from the coproduction of propylene oxide (PO) and styrene (SM). The PO—SM route is complex and capital-iatensive ia comparison to dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, but it stiU can be very attractive. However, its use is limited by the mismatch between the demands for styrene and propylene oxides (qv). 

Fig. 4. Manufacture of styrene by adiabatic dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene A, steam superheater B, reactor section C, feed—effluent exchanger D,...

Ethyltoluene is manufactured by aluminum chloride-cataly2ed alkylation similar to that used for ethylbenzene production. All three isomers are formed. A typical analysis of the reactor effluent is shown in Table 9. After the unconverted toluene and light by-products are removed, the mixture of ethyltoluene isomers and polyethyltoluenes is fractionated to recover the meta and para isomers (bp 161.3 and 162.0°C, respectively) as the overhead product, which typically contains 0.2% or less ortho isomer (bp 165.1°C). This isomer separation is difficult but essential because (9-ethyltoluene undergoes ring closure to form indan and indene in the subsequent dehydrogenation process. These compounds are even more difficult to remove from vinyltoluene, and their presence in the monomer results in inferior polymers. The o-ethyltoluene and polyethyltoluenes are recovered and recycled to the reactor for isomerization and transalkylation to produce more ethyltoluenes. Fina uses a zeoHte-catalyzed vapor-phase alkylation process to produce ethyltoluenes. 

Styrene. Commercial manufacture of this commodity monomer depends on ethylbenzene, which is converted by several means to a low purity styrene, subsequendy distilled to the pure form. A small percentage of styrene is made from the oxidative process, whereby ethylbenzene is oxidized to a hydroperoxide or alcohol and then dehydrated to styrene. A popular commercial route has been the alkylation of benzene to ethylbenzene, with ethylene, after which the cmde ethylbenzene is distilled to give high purity ethylbenzene. The ethylbenzene is direcdy dehydrogenated to styrene monomer in the vapor phase with steam and appropriate catalysts. Most styrene is manufactured by variations of this process. A variety of catalyst systems are used, based on ferric oxide with other components, including potassium salts, which improve the catalytic activity (10). 

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). 

Two or more soHd catalyst components can be mixed to produce a composite that functions as a supported catalyst. The ingredients may be mixed as wet or dry powders and pressed into tablets, roUed into spheres, or pelletized, and then activated. The promoted potassium ferrite catalysts used to dehydrogenate ethylbenzene in the manufacture of styrene or to dehydrogenate butanes in the manufacture of butenes are examples of catalysts manufactured by pelletization and calcination of physically mixed soHd components. In this case a potassium salt, iron oxide, and other ingredients are mixed, extmded, and calcined to produce the iron oxide-supported potassium ferrite catalyst. 

Sources of Raw Materials. Coal tar results from the pyrolysis of coal (qv) and is obtained chiefly as a by-product in the manufacture of coke for the steel industry (see Coal, carbonization). Products recovered from the fractional distillation of coal tar have been the traditional organic raw material for the dye industry. Among the most important are ben2ene (qv), toluene (qv), xylene naphthalene (qv), anthracene, acenaphthene, pyrene, pyridine (qv), carba2ole, phenol (qv), and cresol (see also Alkylphenols Anthraquinone Xylenes and ethylbenzenes). 

Alkylation. Ethylbenzene [100-41 -4] the precursor of styrene, is produced from benzene and ethylene. The ethylation of benzene is conducted either ia the Hquid phase ia the preseace of a Eriedel-Crafts catalyst (AlCl, BE, EeCl ) or ia the vapor phase with a suitable catalyst. The Moasanto/Lummus process uses an aluminum chloride catalyst that yields more than 99% ethylbenzene (13). More recently, Lummus and Union Oil commercialized a zeoHte catalyst process for Hquid-phase alkylation (14). Badger and Mobil also have a vapor-phase alkylation process usiag zeoHte catalysts (15). Almost all ethylbenzene produced is used for the manufacture of styrene [100-42-5] which is obtained by dehydrogenation ia the preseace of a suitable catalyst at 550—640°C and relatively low pressure, <0.1 MPa (<1 atm). 

Plants have now been installed by some manufacturers to produce ethylbenzene via catalytic reforming processes. The reforming process is one which converts aliphatic hydrocarbons into a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons. This may be subsequently fractionated to give benzene, toluene and a xylene fraction from which ethylbenzene may be obtained. 

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