PROCESS FOR PRODUCING ALKYL T-ALKYL ETHER

摘要

A process for preparing an alkyl-tert-alkyl ether wherein an olefin having a double bond on a tertiary carbon atom and a primary alcohol are reacted in the presence of a catalyst under conditions sufficient to produce an azeotropic alcohol/ether/hydrocarbon mixture containing the alkyl-tert-alkyl ether. The azeotropic alcohol/ether/ hydrocarbon mixture is subjected to a cyclic liquid phase adsorption process sequence to selectively remove the alcohol. The resulting non-azeotropic ether/hydrocarbon stream can then be easily separated by distillation to provide the desired alkyl-tert-alkyl ether product and a hydrocarbon product. The cyclic adsorption process employed to separate the alcohol from the ether/hydrocarbon mixture comprises introducing the alcohol/ether/hydrocarbon mixture into a plurality of adsorption columns containing an alcohol selective adsorbent, wherein each respective adsorption column undergoes successive steps of adsorption and desorption.