Production of unsaturated hydrocarbons, e.g. ethylene or propylene, involves thermal cleavage of saturated hydrocarbon in a reactor containing catalyst through which gas containing an alkyl radical precursor is passed

摘要

Unsaturated hydrocarbons are obtained by thermal cleavage of saturated hydrocarbons in a reactor containing a catalyst on or in a gas-permeable support through which gas containing a precursor of alkyl radicals is passed. A method for the production of unsaturated hydrocarbons (I) by thermal cleavage of saturated and/or partly unsaturated hydrocarbons (II) involves: (a) passing a starting stream containing hot gaseous (II) into a reactor containing a catalyst on and/or in a gas-permeable support provided with a feed pipe for an alkyl radical precursor (III) or a gas-permeable formed body made of catalytic material which is connected with a feed pipe for (III); (b) passing the gaseous (III) through the (supported) catalyst; and (c) adjusting the pressure and temperature in the reactor to promote thermal cleavage of (II) to form aliphatic (I). The claimed method does not include the production of halogen-containing aliphatic (I) from halogen-containing aliphatic (II). An independent claim is also included for a reactor for this process, comprising: (i) a feed inlet for (II); (ii) catalytic material as above; (iii) an inlet for (III) connected to the supported or formed catalyst; (iv) a heater for (III); (v) a heater to heat up or maintain the temperature of the gas in the reactor; and (vi) a gas take-off for the unhalogenated product (I).