Processes and systems for treating aromatic feed including an aromatic component and nitrogen-containing impurities, and processes and systems for preparing a reaction product of the aromatic component

Abstract

Processes and systems for treating an aromatic feed comprising an aromatic component and nitrogen-containing impurities, as well as processes and systems for preparing a reaction product of an aromatic component from an aromatic feed comprising the aromatic component and nitrogen-containing impurities, are provided herein. In an embodiment, a process for treating an aromatic feed comprising an aromatic component and nitrogen-containing impurities includes adsorbing a portion of the nitrogen-containing impurities from the aromatic feed to produce a treated aromatic feed comprising the aromatic component and residual nitrogen-containing impurities. The treated aromatic feed and water are mixed to produce a hydrated aromatic feed. A purified aromatic feed and a water component are distilled from the hydrated aromatic feed in a distillation stage, wherein the water component comprises residual nitrogen-containing impurities from the treated aromatic feed and wherein the purified aromatic feed comprises the aromatic component.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention generally relates to processes and systems for treating an aromatic feed that includes an aromatic component and nitrogen-containing impurities, as well as processes and systems for preparing a reaction product of an aromatic component from the aromatic feed. In particular, the present invention relates to processes and systems for removing nitrogen-containing impurities from the aromatic feed.BACKGROUND[0002]Reaction products of aromatic compounds, such as alkylated aromatic compounds, are common petrochemical products that are useful as intermediates for the preparation of other widely-used industrial compounds. For example, cumene (also known in the art as isopropyl benzene) is widely used as an intermediate in the production of phenol and acetone, and ethylbenzene is widely used as an intermediate in the production of styrene.[0003]Alkylated aromatic compounds are generally prepared by reacting aromatic compounds with olefins in the pre...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent provides processes and systems for treating an aromatic feed with nitrogen-containing impurities. The process involves adsorbing a portion of the nitrogen-containing impurities from the aromatic feed to produce a treated aromatic feed with residual nitrogen-containing impurities. The treated aromatic feed is then mixed with water to produce a hydrated aromatic feed. The hydrated aromatic feed is distilled to produce a purified aromatic feed and a water component comprising residual nitrogen-containing impurities. The purified aromatic feed is then reacted to produce a reaction product of the aromatic component and an unreacted aromatic component. The system includes an adsorption stage, a mixing stage, a hydration stage, and a distillation stage. The technical effects include reducing the nitrogen content in the aromatic feed, producing a purified aromatic feed with residual nitrogen-containing impurities, and preparing a reaction product of the aromatic component with an unreacted aromatic component.

Problems solved by technology

The presence of nitrogen-containing impurities in aromatic feed is generally undesirable for various reasons.

For example, nitrogen-containing impurities may form deposits on aromatic alkylation catalysts during alkylation of the aromatic compounds, thereby contaminating the aromatic alkylation catalysts.

Such contamination adversely affects catalyst performance and catalyst life and increases regeneration frequency of the aromatic alkylation catalysts.

However, existing guard bed systems are generally incapable of adsorbing all nitrogen-containing impurities from the aromatic feed.

Simply increasing capacity of the guard bed systems is an undesirable and often imperfect approach to removing greater amounts of nitrogen-containing impurities from the aromatic feed due to the nitrogen-containing impurities in the aromatic feed having different degrees of basicity with some of the nitrogen-containing impurities having basicity that falls outside of an operating range of the guard bed systems.

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