Naphthenes reforming

It is produced from petroleum fractions rich in naphthenes by catalytic reforming in the presence of hydrogen (hydroforming) in this process dehydrogenation .nd dealkylation... 

Commercially, xylene is obtained by the catalytic reforming of naphthenes in the presence of hydrogen see toluene) or was formerly obtained from coal tar. The material so-produced is suitable for use as a solvent or gasoline ingredient, these uses accounting for a large part of xylene consumption. If xylene is required as a chemical, separation into the iso-... 

A key process in the production of gasoline, catalytic reforming is used to increase the octane number of light crude fractions having high paraffin and naphthene contents (C7-C8-C9) by converting them to aromatics. 

Toluene, Benzene, and BTX Reeoveiy. The composition of aromatics centers on the C - and Cg-fraction, depending somewhat on the boihng range of the feedstock used. Most catalytic reformate is used directiy in gasoline. That part which is converted to benzene, toluene, and xylenes for commercial sale is separated from the unreacted paraffins and cycloparaffins or naphthenes by hquid—hquid extraction or by extractive distillation. It is impossible to separate commercial purity aromatic products from reformates by distillation only because of the presence of azeotropes, although comphcated further by the closeness in boihng points of the aromatics, t/o-paraffin, and unreacted C -, C -, and Cg-paraffins. 

Reforming is the conversion primarily of naphthenes and alkanes to aromatics, but other reactions also occur under commercial conditions. Platinum or platinum/rhenium are the hydrogenation/ dehydrogenation component of the catalyst and alumina is the acid component responsible for skeletal rearrangements. 

Powerforming is one tecnique used for aromatics chemical production. Powerforming uses a platinum catalyst to reform virgin naphthas. The principal reaction is the conversion of naphthenes in virgin naphthas to aromatics e.g., isomerization and dehydrocyclization reactions also occur in catalytic reforming. 

Increasing the octane number of a low-octane naphtha fraction is achieved by changing the molecular structure of the low octane number components. Many reactions are responsible for this change, such as the dehydrogenation of naphthenes and the dehydrocyclization of paraffins to aromatics. Catalytic reforming is considered the key process for obtaining benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX). These aromatics are important intermediates for the production of many chemicals. 

Catalytic reformers are normally designed to have a series of catalyst beds (typically three beds). The first bed usually contains less catalyst than the other beds. This arrangement is important because the dehydrogenation of naphthenes to aromatics can reach equilibrium faster than the other reforming reactions. Dehydrocyclization is a slower reaction and may only reach equilibrium at the exit of the third reactor. Isomerization and hydrocracking reactions are slow. They have low equilibrium constants and may not reach equilibrium before exiting the reactor. 

Catalytic reformers. Catalytic reforming is an important step to improve the quality of gasoline. During the reforming process, naphthens are dehydrogenated to aromatics. As a representative example, hydrogen is produced by cyclohexane dehydrogenation to benzene as follows ... 

Catalytic reforming rearranging hydrocarbon molecules in a gasoline-boiling-range feedstock to produce other hydrocarbons having a higher antiknock quality isomerization of paraffins, cyclization of paraffins to naphthenes (g.v.), dehy-drocyclization of paraffins to aromatics (g.v.). 

These are the good things that happen in the cat reforming process because iso-paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics each have higher octane numbers than the molecules from which they were created. Other changes happen that are not so good. 

The amount of benzene produced in a reformer will depend on the composition of the feed. Every crude oil has naphtha with different PNA (paraffin, naphthene, aromatics) content. In commercial naphtha trading, the PNA content is often an important specification. High naphthene and aromatic content would indicate a good reformer feed. High paraffin content would indicate a good olefin plant feed. 

The predominant reaction during reforming is dehydrogenation of naphthenes. Important secondary reactions are isomerization and dehydrocyclization of paraffins. All three reactions result in high-octane products. 

The Platforming-Udex process for catalytic reforming of naphtha is also used for toluene. The feedstock should be rich in seven carbon naphthenes such as dimethylcyclopentanes, methylcyclohexane, and ethylcyclopentane... 

Other reactions may also occur. These include carbon formation, hydrocracking or thermal cracking, dehydrocyclization of paraffins to naphthenes, and dehydrogenation of naphthenes to aromatics. These have been discussed in the deactivation of reforming catalysts, in Section 2. 

Reactivity of Hydrocarbons. - Each homologous series in a liquid fuel can exhibit different kinetics upon reforming under similar reaction conditions. For example, aromatic compounds are the most difficult to reform and require higher temperatures and lower space velocities. Aromatics also contribute significantly to carbon formation, compared to paraffins and naphthenes. At the same reaction conditions, the H2 production rates are typically in the order aromatics naphthenes. ° The relative reactivities of various higher hydrocarbons are summarized in Table 12. 

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