Phillips Petroleum Company

Johnnie R Pierce

Fan-Nan Lin

John Cowan

In a process for isomerizing C.sub.4 -C.sub.7 alkanes and/or C.sub.6 -C.sub.7 cycloalkanes which is carried out in the presence of hydrogen gas, a chloride additive (e.g., CCl.sub.4 or C.sub.2 Cl.sub.4) and a supported platinum and chlorine-containing catalyst (e.g., Pt/Cl/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), the catalyst is intermittently reactivated in two steps: first, the hydrogen to feed hydrocarbon ratio is raised (while the chloride level in the feed is either not changed or lowered), and thereafter the chloride level in the feed is increased. Preferably, the fresh catalyst is also preactivated by contacting it with the hydrocarbon feed wherein the hydrogen to feed hydrocarbon ratio is higher and/or the temperature is lower than what is employed in the subsequent isomerization production cycle.

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Nowata, OK, United States of America

Johnnie R Pierce