Solid Catalyst Alkylation of C2–C3 Olefins with Isobutane in the Presence of Hydrogen Using a Slurry Transport Reactor–Hydrocyclone–Regenerator System and PtSO4TiZr/SiO2 Catalyst: Part 2. Regeneration of Spent Catalysts in Pilot Plants and a Simulation of a Fluidized Bed Reactor

Abstract

A continuous regeneration process was developed to treat spent PtTiZrSO4/SiO2 alkylation catalyst with hydrogen in a fluidized-bed reactor. Catalyst that alkylated isobutane with olefins (C2= and C3=) in a pilot plant accumulated soluble and insoluble coke on the surface in several passes through the system. It was regenerated on a small scale and in a pilot plant fluidized-bed reactor (FBR). Tests in semibatch reactors generated data to develop the apparent kinetic rate and the stoichiometry of the reaction. The information obtained in the pilot plant was used to determine fluid dynamic correlations, a new set of kinetic rate constants, the number of compartments in the dense phase, and the catalyst efficiency factor and to confirm the effects of operating variables. Simulations of the pilot plant and commercial size fluidized-bed reactor were performed using three fluid dynamic models, the kinetic rate equation, and the new fluid dynamic correlations. The effect of operating variables in alkylation cost...