Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc.

Yeo-Meng Lim

Stephen Harold Brown

John Stephen Godsmark

Hubertus Joseph Beckers

Charles Morris Yarbrough

Georges Marie Karel Mathys

Paul Hamilton

George Marie Karel Mathys

Hubertus J Beckers

Charles M Yarbrough

A process for the oligomerization of olefins includes treating, e.g., water washing, an olefin-containing hydrocarbon stream to lower the concentration of an organic nitrogen-containing Lewis base contained therein until the treated hydrocarbon stream is substantially free of the Lewis base; and subsequently contacting the treated hydrocarbon stream with a molecular sieve catalyst to produce a product including at least one oligomer.

Lowering nitrogen-containing Lewis bases in molecular sieve oligomerisation

In the oligomerization of olefins in a tubular reactor employing a molecular sieve catalyst, the temperature of the reaction is monitored and the space velocity of the olefin feed to the reactor is reduced as the temperature increases. This has been found to increase catalyst life and lead to extended production runs. Further extensions of the production run are achieved by improving reactor operating stability as the end of the production run approaches.

Oligomerisation of olefins

Nitrogen-containing Lewis bases act as poisons for molecular sieve catalysts used in oligomerisation reactions. A lowering of their presence in the feed prior to the contacting thereof with the molecular sieve brings a significant extension of catalyst life. Excessive elimination of these poisons may be disadvantageous. Lowering the levels of these catalyst poisons to more manageable concentrations is therefore preferred.

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Yeo-Meng Lim