STRUCTURED CATALYSTS FOR THE ALKYLATION OF BENZENE WITH PROPYLENE TO CUMENE

摘要

Cumene (isopropylbenzene) is an important and basic petrochemical material for the production of phenol and acetone, and it is usually obtained by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene with propylene. Due to the excellent performances, e.g. high catalytic activity, non-corrosiveness, environmental-friendly behavior, and good selectivity, zeolites catalysts have been widely used for the alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons for the past two decades. However, the problems existing in the conventional fixed-bed reactor filled with pellet catalysts for the alkylation of benzene with propylene are: i) a high pressure drop restraining the increase of throughput capacity and leading to the high power consumption of pumps; ii) when the zeolite pellet catalysts are deactivated, only the external surface is deactivated while the interior is still effective, indicating that the utilization efficiency of pellet catalysts is low. It is evident that how to design the hardware containing solid catalysts is crucial for solving these problems.