Huntsman Specialty Chemicals Corporation

Texaco Development Corporation

Texaco Chemical Inc.

Rei-Yu Judy Hwan

Kyle Lee Preston

John F Knifton

Pei-Shing E Dai

Laurence D Neff

John R Sanderson

Brian L Benac

Mark E Taylor

Melvin Ernest Stockton

Stuart J Parker

Arlen G Sliger

Lawrence E Tillotson

Methyl tertiary butyl ether is prepared from contaminated TBA by reactively distilling the contaminated TBA in a reactive distillation column to provide a lower boiling isobutylene fraction and a higher boiling aqueous TBA fraction, by distilling the higher boiling aqueous TBA fraction to provide a lower boiling TBA fraction, by charging the lower boiling isobutylene fraction, the lower boiling tertiary butyl alcohol fraction and methanol to an etherification reactor to form an etherification reaction product, by distilling the etherification reaction product to provide a lower boiling fraction containing isobutylene, methanol and methyl tertiary butyl ether by charging the lower boiling fraction to a finishing reactor to react the isobutylene and methanol contained therein to from additional MTBE and by recovering MTBE from the etherification reaction product and the isobutylene conversion product.

Method for the manufacture of methyl tertiary butyl ether from tertiary

A tertiary butyl alcohol charge stock contaminated with from about 0.5 to about 2 wt. % of corrosive oxygen-containing impurities, including peroxides and formates, is passed through an oxygenates decomposition reactor containing a bed of a basic zeolite catalyst to decompose the peroxides and oxygen-containing impurities, including peroxides and formates, and to dehydrate a portion of the tertiary butyl alcohol to form isobutylene and water to form a substantially less-corrosive tertiary butyl alcohol feedstock that is substantially free from oxygen-containing impurities, including formates that is suitable for reaction with methanol in a methyl tertiary butyl ether etherification reactor to form a methyl tertiary butyl ether etherification reaction product from which methyl tertiary butyl ether can be recovered.

Method for the purification of tertiary butyl alcohol for use in the

Methyl tertiary butyl ether is prepared from contaminated tertiary butyl alcohol and methanol by decomposing peroxides in a peroxides decomposition reactor, by dehydrating the tertiary butyl alcohol to form isobutylene and also decomposing acidic contaminants in a tertiary butyl alcohol dehydration reactor to form a feedstock that is distilled to provide a first lower boiling fraction comprising isobutylene and water; from which isobutylene is recovered for reaction with methanol in an etherification reactor containing a bed of an etherification catalyst to form methyl tertiary butyl ether.

Method for the purification of tertiary butyl alcohol and to its use in

Methyl tertiary butyl ether is prepared from TBA contaminated with oxygen-containing impurities by decomposing the impurities to gaseous products, by charging the thus-treated tertiary butyl alcohol and methanol to an etherification reactor to form an etherification reaction product, by distilling the etherification reaction product to provide a lower boiling fraction containing isobutylene, methanol and methyl tertiary butyl ether by charging the lower boiling fraction to a finishing reactor to react the isobutylene and methanol contained therein to from additional MTBE and by recovering MTBE from the etherification reaction product and the isobutylene conversion product.

Disclosed is a method for decomposing formate esters, free acids and peroxides in a tertiary butyl alcohol stream to produce noncondensible gas products which comprises reacting said tertiary butyl alcohol stream or a methyl tertiary butyl alcohol stream containing formate esters over a catalyst comprising a non-noble Group VIII metal and a metal of Group IB on a support comprising an inert composition mixed with a hydrotalcite-like composition.

Catalytic decomposition of formate impurities in tertiary butyl alcohol

In the multistage distillation of a methyl tertiary butyl ether reaction product comprising methyl tertiary butyl ether, tertiary butyl alcohol, methanol, isobutylene and water, the methyl tertiary butyl ether reaction product is separated in a primary methyl tertiary butyl ether distillation column into a lower boiling methyl tertiary butyl ether fraction and a higher boiling aqueous tertiary butyl alcohol fraction; the lower boiling aqueous tertiary butyl alcohol fraction is separated in a tertiary butyl alcohol distillation column into a vaporized overhead tertiary butyl alcohol fraction and a higher boiling water fraction; cooling water is charged to the reflux condenser for the tertiary butyl alcohol distillation column to liquify the vaporized, overhead tertiary butyl alcohol fraction and to convert the cooling water to wet steam, and the wet steam is independently charged to the reboiler for the primary methyl tertiary butyl ether distillation zone to supply the heat necessary for the distillation to be effected therein.

Energy conservation during plural stage distillation

Methyl tertiary butyl ether is sequentially prepared from tertiary butyl alcohol and methanol by: passing tertiary butyl alcohol and methanol through a primary reaction zone to form a primary etherification reaction product comprising unreacted methanol, unreacted tertiary butyl alcohol, water, dimethyl ether, isobutylene and methyl tertiary butyl ether; separating the primary etherification reaction product into a methanol recycle fraction, a tertiary butyl alcohol recycle fraction, an isobutylene fraction and a methyl tertiary butyl ether product fraction; recycling the methanol recycle fraction and the tertiary butyl alcohol recycle fraction to the methyl tertiary butyl ether etherification reaction zone; passing at least a portion of said isobutylene fraction together with added methanol through a secondary reaction zone to form a secondary etherification reaction product comprising water, methanol, isobutylene, DME, methyl tertiary butyl ether and tertiary butyl alcohol; and recovering the methyl tertiary butyl ether from said secondary etherification reaction product.

Sequential reaction of TBA and isobutylene with methanol

Disclosed is an improved process for preparing ethyl t-butyl ether in one-step which comprises reacting tertiary butanol and ethanol in the presence of a catalyst consisting essentially of a macroreticular acid resin or a pentasil zeolite at a temperature of about 40.degree.-140.degree. C. and atmospheric pressure to about 500 psig.

Growing community of inventors

Sugarland, TX, United States of America

Rei-Yu Judy Hwan