Uop Lcc

Joel B Spinner

Harold U Hammershaimb

Elizabeth Carter

Processes for regenerating ionic liquid catalyst in which reaction vessel is operated under conditions sufficient to perform, in the presence of an ionic liquid catalyst, a hydrocarbon conversion reaction and provide a reaction effluent. The reaction effluent is separated into a hydrocarbon phase and a spent ionic liquid catalyst, wherein the spent ionic liquid catalyst includes conjunct polymer. The spent ionic liquid catalyst is contacted with hydrogen in a regeneration zone at conditions sufficient to reduce an amount of conjunct polymer in the spent ionic liquid catalyst to provide a regenerated effluent. The regenerated effluent is separated into a liquid phase comprising regenerated ionic liquid catalyst and a vapor phase comprising hydrogen and hydrogen chloride. The hydrocarbon phase is separated into a plurality of liquid hydrocarbon streams. The vapor phase is isolated from the liquid hydrocarbon streams. Alkylation processes are also disclosed.

Ionic liquid catalyst regeneration

A process using selective hydrogenation and HF alkylation in combination that employs a multifunction alkylation stripper for removal of light ends from the selective hydrogenation and a alkylation operations. The process combines the effluent from the selective hydrogenation operation, an isobutane feed stream and a bottoms stream from the HF stripper in the alkylation feed stripper. The feed stripper provides a C.sub.4 -plus bottoms stream that serves as the feed to the alkylation zone and a C.sub.3 -minus overhead that can be recovered as fuel gas. Significant benefit is obtained from this process when processing a mixed olefin feed of C.sub.3 /C.sub.4 hydrocarbons and recovering a high purity C.sub.3 product stream ahead of the selective hydrogenation zone. Another variation of this process allows a C.sub.3 product stream to be withdrawn from the alkylation feed stripper either directly as a sidecut or downstream of an overhead condensor.

HF alkylation and selective hydrogenation process

A process is disclosed for the production of alkylaromatic hydrocarbons by the alkylation of an aromatic hydrocarbon, such as benzene, with a C.sub.8 -plus acyclic olefin which preferably is a normal olefin. The hydrocarbonaceous effluent of the alkylation reaction zone is separated by fractional distillation to yield both a product stream containing monoalkylated aromatics and a small bottoms stream containing dialkylated aromatics and other high boiling compounds but which is substantially devoid of the product monoalkylated aromatics. The product stream is a portion of a sidecut stream withdrawn from the first of two vacuum columns, with a second portion of the sidecut being passed into the second column. The bottoms stream of the first column is also passed into the second column and the overhead vapor of the second column enters an upper portion of the first column.

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Chicago, IL, United States of America

Joel B Spinner