Linear alkylbenzene production

Zeolite based catalysts for linear alkylbenzene production dehydrogenation of long chain alkanes and benzene alkylation. Catal. Today, 38, 243-247. 

Linear paraffins in the C q to range are used for the production of alcohols and plasticizers and biodegradable detergents of the linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and nonionic types (see Alcohols Plasticizers Surfactants). Here the UOP Molex process is used to extract / -paraffins from a hydrotreated kerosine (6—8). 

Other sources of by-product HCl include allyl chloride, chlorobenzenes, chlorinated paraffins, linear alkylbenzene, siHcone fluids and elastomers, magnesium, fluoropolymers, chlorotoluenes, benzyl chloride, potassium sulfate, and agricultural chemicals. 

Alkylation of benzene using alpha olefins produces linear alkylbenzenes, which are further sulfonated and neutralized to linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LABS). These compounds constitute, with alcohol ethoxy-sulfates and ethoxylates, the basic active ingredients for household detergents. Production of LABS is discussed in Chapter 10. 

The higher molecular weight unbranched C10-C18 n-olefins—not only a-olefins but also n-olefins with internal double bonds, so-called n-vj/-olefins—are important initial products for the manufacture of anionic surfactants, e.g., linear alkylbenzenes or olefinsulfonates. These linear C10-C18 olefins are manufactured technically by the following procedures ... 

Table 1 shows the carbon chain distributions for several typical commercial alkylates. The carbon chain distributions for linear alkylbenzene (LAB) samples A, C, and E are determined by the distillation cut of n-paraffins used to make the LAB. LAB samples B and D represent blended alkylates made by mixing samples such as A and E in different ratios. This provides to the customer LAB products with a wide variety of molecular weights and improves the utilization of the fl-paraffin feedstocks. 

PLE pressurized liquid extraction, SPE solid phase extraction, UE ultrasonic extraction, DSPE dispersive solid phase extraction, SBSE stir bar sorptive extraction, TD-GC-MS thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, LAS linear alkylbenzene sulfonates, CDEAs coconut diethanol amides, NPEOs nonylphenol ethoxylates, DP degradation products, SPC sulphenyl carboxylates, PCDD dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), PCDF dibenzofurans, PCBs biphenyls... 

Gonzalez S, Petrovic M, Barcelo D (2004) Simultaneous extraction and fate of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates, coconut diethanol amides, nonylphenol ethoxylates and their degradation products in wastewater treatment plants, receiving coastal waters and sediments in the Catalonian area (NE Spain). J Chromatogr A 1052(1-2) 111-120... 

Navas JM, Gonzalez-Mazo E, Wenzel A, Gomez-Parra A, Segner H (1999) Linear alkylbenzene sulphonates and intermediate products from their degradation are not estrogenic. Mar Pollut Bull 38 880-884... 

OCCURRENCE OF SURFACTANTS IN SURFACE WATERS AND FRESHWATER SEDIMENTS—II. LINEAR ALKYLBENZENE SULFONATES AND THEIR CARBOXYLATED DEGRADATION PRODUCTS... 

Surfactants and their biotransformation products enter surface waters primarily through discharges from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Depending on their physicochemical properties, surface-active substances may partition between the dissolved phase and the solid phase through adsorption onto suspended particles and sediments [1,2]. Several environmental studies have been dedicated to the assessment of the contribution of surfactant residues in effluents to the total load of surfactants in receiving waters. This contribution reviews the relevant literature describing the presence of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LASs) and in particular of their degradation products in surface waters and sediments (Table 6.3.1). 

Although a substantial body of data is available on the levels of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LASs) in rivers and estuaries, fewer studies have been conducted on their environmental behaviour, with reference to the mechanisms involved in their transport and to the reactivity they undergo. Studies of LAS in subterranean water and in the marine medium are scarce and have mainly been conducted in the last decade [2-6], coinciding with the development of new techniques of concentration/separation and analysis of LAS at ppb levels or less. Data on concentrations of sulfophenyl carboxylates (SPCs) are very scarce and the behaviour of these intermediates has hardly received any study. This chapter provides an overview of the current knowledge on behaviour of LAS and their degradation products in coastal environments. 

The presence of some surfactants or their by-products in the aquatic environment has been considered as a potential marker of pollution [45, 325]. Thus, the presence of alkylbenzene sulfonates in groundwater has been used as an indicator of the age of the groundwater [358]. Linear alkylbenzenes can act as tracers of domestic waste in the marine environment [34,35,359,360] and trial-kylamines as indicators of urban sewage in sludge, coastal waters, and sediments [17,33,45,325, 327, 346,361]. Analysis, identification, and characterization of surfactants are extensively reviewed and discussed by Aboul-Kassim and Simoneit [314], while pollution problems associated with these compounds are reviewed by Aboul-Kassim and Simoneit [356]. 

Thus hydrochloric acid is a derivative of chlorine. About 93% of it is made by various reactions including the cracking of ethylene dichloride and tetrachloroethane, the chlorination of toluene, fluorocarbons, and methane, and the production of linear alkylbenzenes. It is also a by-product of the reaction of phosgene and amines to form isocyanates. 

The main use of n-paraffins is in the production of linear alkylbenzenes (90%) for the detergent industry. The other uses are solvents and lubricants (7%) and chlorinated paraffins (3%). 

It is common practice to put the experimentally obtained values for biodegradation and aquatic toxicity into a kind of matrix, as is illustrated by Fig. 2. The shaded areas in the matrix are the approved areas . Out of the six product types discussed above linear alkylbenzene sulfonates, alcohol ethoxylates, and ester quats lie within the shaded areas, while branched alkylbenzene sulfonates, alkylphenol ethoxylates and stable quats do not. 

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