Chemical Research & Licensing Company

Bradley S Hearn

Robert P Arganbright

An integrated two stage process for the production of isoolefin by the dehydration of isoalcohol and the synthesis of a corresponding ether, for example the production of methyl tertiary butyl ether by (a) feeding tertiary butyl alcohol to a first distillation column reactor into a feed zone; (b) concurrently in said first distillation column reactor (i) contacting said TBA with an acid ion exchange resin catalyst as a component of a distillation structure, at a temperature in the range of 165.degree. to 200.degree. F. to dissociate said tertiary butyl alcohol to the isobutene and water, characterized in that sufficient water is maintained in said distillation reaction zone to inhibit the reaction of the isobutene with itself to form dimers and (ii) separating isobutene and water by fractional distillation; (c) withdrawing isobutene as overheads; (d) withdrawing water and undehydrated isoalcohol as bottoms, and in the second stage feeding the recovered isobutene to a second distillation column reactor with methanol and concurrently reacting methanol and isobutene at the appropriate dilution to form a reaction mixture containing methyl tertiary butyl ether.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Bradley S Hearn