BR112019007821B1 : Method For Isomerization of a Feedstock Dehydration Non Linear Primary Alcohol in the Presence of Injection of Water and a Catalyst Comprising an Iron Type Crutcher MFS Or [FR3058415A1]

Applicants: FRENCH INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM SA , TOTALENERGIES SE

1st Inventor: Sylyie Maury

This month’s catalyst patent is a granted publication in Brazil to the French Institute of Petroleum (IFPEN) and Total Energies SE. The work relates to production of olefins by alcohol dehydration over a zeolite catalyst. The first inventor on the patent is Dr Sylvie Maury from IFPEN, France. The patent comes from a French priority FR20160060803 published 08-Nov-2016. There are also French and US granted family members.
The patent more specifically relates to the dehydration of iso-butanol to C4 olefins. The catalyst is prepared from a mixture of commercial NH4-ferrierite and silica binder(s) which are kneaded in an aqueous solution of triethylammonium TEAOH. The mixture is then extruded, dried, and calcined to give extrudates of 2-4 mm. Ferrierite is chosen because it has at least one channel with a ring of 8 oxygen atoms (8MR).

Catalyst testing is carried out in either a single or dual reactor with fixed beds operating in “down flow” mode. Water/iso-butanol feed is vapourised and passed over the catalyst bed at 8 bar/300-400°C. With 7% water added into the iso-butanol feed, the best results achieved were 97.8% olefin selectivity with a ratio of n-butenes/all butenes of 84.1% after 72 h at a conversion of 99%. The main by-product was iso-butyraldehyde. Further experiments were carried out with 30% water in the feed. When no water was added to the iso-butanol feed, a rapid deactivation of the catalyst was observed as shown in Figure 1 below.