Claims
- 1. In a hydrocarbon conversion process which comprises contacting a hydrocarbon feedstock with a substantially liquid phase catalyst comprising (a) one or more Lewis acids selected from the group consisting of the fluorides, chlorides and bromides of tantalum(V), niobium(V) and mixtures thereof and at least an equal molar amount of (b) a strong Bronsted acid, thereby forming a hydrocarbon phase and a catalyst phase, said catalyst phase having become at least partially deactivated due to the formation of catalytically less active complexes with at least a portion of said Lewis acid, the improvement which comprises recovering at least a portion of the Lewis acid component of said catalyst by contact with hydrogen at a temperature between about 100.degree. and about 500.degree. C. and at a hydrogen partial pressure of at least 1 atmosphere for a period of time sufficient to obtain the Lewis acid component of said catalyst possessing a lower level of said catalytically less active complexes than that possessed by the Lewis acid component of said partially deactivated catalyst.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said Bronsted acid is a hydrogen halide selected from the group consisting of hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen bromide.
- 3. The process of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said Bronsted acid is separated from the catalyst phase prior to said recovery.
- 4. The process of claim 3 wherein at least a portion of the Lewis acid component of the catalyst phase thus recovered is recycled to said hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 5. The process of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said Bronsted acid is separated from the catalyst phase during said recovery.
- 6. The process of claim 5 wherein at least a portion of the Bronsted acid thus recovered is recycled to the hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 7. The process of claim 1 wherein the Bronsted acid is hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, fluorosulfonic acid, trifluoromethanesulfuric acid, or methanesulfonic acid.
- 8. In a hydrocarbon conversion process which comprises contacting a hydrocarbon feedstock with a substantially liquid phase catalyst comprising a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of tantalum pentafluoride, niobium pentafluoride and mixtures thereof in combination with at least an equal molar amount of hydrogen fluoride, thereby forming a hydrocarbon phase and a catalyst phase, said catalyst phase having become at least partially deactivated due to the formation of catalytically less active complexes with at least a portion of said metal fluoride, the improvement which comprises recovering at least a portion of the metal fluoride component of said catalyst by contact with hydrogen at a temperature in the range of from about 100.degree. to about 500.degree. C. and at a hydrogen partial pressure of at least 1 atmosphere for a period of time sufficient to obtain the metal fluoride component of said catalyst possessing a lower level of said catalytically less active complexes than that possessed by the metal fluoride component of said partially deactivated catalyst.
- 9. The process of claim 8 wherein at least a portion of said hydrogen fluoride is separated from said catalyst phase prior to said recovery.
- 10. The process of claim 9 wherein at least a portion of the metal fluoride component of the catalyst thus recovered is recycled to said hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 11. The process of claim 8 wherein at least a portion of said hydrogen fluoride is separated from said catalyst phase during said recovery.
- 12. The process of claim 11 wherein at least a portion of the catalyst components thus recovered are recycled to the hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 13. The process of claim 8 wherein said recovery is effected at a hydrogen partial pressure ranging between about 1 to about 500 atmospheres and at a temperature ranging from about 140.degree. to about 400.degree. C.
- 14. In an isomerization process which comprises contacting a feedstock containing a component selected from the group consisting of acyclic hydrocarbons having at least four carbon atoms, alicyclic hydrocarbons having at least six carbon atoms and mixtures thereof, with a substantially liquid phase catalyst comprising a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of tantalum pentafluoride, niobium pentafluoride and mixtures thereof in combination with at least an equal molar amount of hydrogen fluoride, thereby forming a hydrocarbon phase andd a catalyst phase, said catalyst phase having become at least partially deactivated due to the formation of catalytically less active complexes with at least a portion of said metal fluoride, the improvement which comprises recovering at least a portion of the metal fluoride component of said catalyst by contact with hydrogen at a temperature in the range of from about 100.degree. to about 500.degree. C. and at a hydrogen partial pressure in the range of from about 1 to about 500 atmospheres for a period of time sufficient to obtain the metal fluoride component of said catalyst possessing a lower level of said catalytically less active complexes than that possessed by the metal fluoride component of the partially deactivated catalyst.
- 15. The process of claim 14 wherein at least a portion of said hydrogen fluoride is separated from said catalyst phase prior to said recovery.
- 16. The process of claim 15 wherein at least a portion of the metal fluoride component of the catalyst thus recovered is recycled to said hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 17. The process of claim 14 wherein at least a portion of said hydrogen fluoride is separated from said catalyst phase during said recovery.
- 18. The process of claim 17 wherein at least a portion of the catalyst components thus recovered are recycled to the hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 19. The process of claim 14 wherein said recovery is effected at a hydrogen partial pressure between about 1 and about 100 atmospheres and at a temperature between about 140.degree. and 400.degree. C.
- 20. In an alkylation process which comprises contacting a feedstock containing a component selected from the group consisting of acyclic hydrocarbons having at least one carbon atom, alicyclic hydrocarbons having at least 5 carbon atoms, aromatic hydrocarbons, alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons and mixtures thereof, and olefins containing from 2 to about 12 carbon atoms per molecule, with a substantially liquid phase catalyst comprising a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of tantalum pentafluoride, niobium pentafluoride and or mixtures thereof, in combination with at least an equal molar amount of hydrogen fluoride, thereby forming a hydrocarbon phase and a catalyst phase, said catalyst having become at least partially deactivated due to the formation of catalytically less active complexes with at least a portion of said metal fluoride, the improvement which comprises recovering at least a portion of the metal fluoride component of said catalyst by contact with hydrogen at a temperature in the range of from about 100.degree. to about 500.degree. C. and at a hydrogen partial presure in the range of from about 1 to about 500 atmospheres for a period of time sufficient to obtain a catalyst possessing a lower level of said catalytically less active complexes than that possessed by the metal fluoride component of the partially deactivated catalyst.
- 21. The process of claim 20 wherein at least a portion of said hydrogen fluoride is separated from said catalyst phase prior to said recovery.
- 22. The process of claim 21 wherein at least a portion of the metal fluoride component of the catalyst thus recovered is recycled to said hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 23. The process of claim 20 wherein at least a portion of said hydrogen fluoride is separated from said catalyst phase during said recovery.
- 24. The process of claim 23 wherein at least a portion of the catalyst components thus recovered are recycled to the hydrocarbon conversion process.
- 25. The process of claim 20 wherein said recovery is effected at a hydrogen partial pressure between about 1 and about 100 atmospheres and at a temperature between about 140.degree. and 400.degree. C.
- 26. The process of claim 20 wherein a feedstock containing iC.sub.4 -C.sub.12 acyclic hydrocarbons is alkylated with C.sub.2 -C.sub.8 olefins.
- 27. The process of claim 20 wherein a feedstock comprising a component selected from the group consisting of methane, ethane, propane, n-butane and mixtures thereof is alkylated with an olefin selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene and mixtures thereof.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 628,589, filed Nov. 4, 1975, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
2727010 |
Zimmerschied |
Dec 1955 |
|
3352941 |
Schoen et al. |
Nov 1967 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
628589 |
Nov 1975 |
|