Kombiniertes Verätherungs- und Alkylierungsverfahren.

摘要

The present invention is a process for separating isobutene from n-butene, while at same time producing methyl tertiary butyl ether, and then using the n-butene to alkylate benzene to produce butyl benzene by feeding a C4 stream containing isobutene and normal butene and methanol to a first distillation column reactor concurrently contacting said mixture and said methanol with a fixed bed acid cation exchange resin package thereby catalytically reacting the isobutene with methanol to form methyl tertiary butyl ether and fractionating the resulting mixture withdrawing the ether from the first distillation column reactor as bottoms and the normal butene as overhead. The normal butene along with benzene is fed to a second distillation column reactor where said normal butene and said benzene contact a second fixed bed acidic packing thereby catalytically reacting said normal butene with a portion of said benzene to form n-butyl benzene. The resultant mixture of unreacted benzene and n-butyl benzene in said second fixed bed packing is fractionated to withdraw the n-butyl benzene from said second distillation column reactor as bottoms. Unreacted benzene from said second distillation column reactor is withdrawn overhead and returned as reflux with make up benzene. The n-butene has been substantially consumed in the alkylation reaction and there is very little in the overhead.