Transalkylation of heavy polyalkylbenzenes by bentonite catalyst

In this research, sulfuric acid-activated bentonite and alumina-pillared sulfuric acid-activated bentonite were prepared as catalysts for transalkylation of heavy polyalkylbenzenes with benzene to produce linear alkylbenzenes. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and temperature programmed desorption of NH3. The reactions were carried out in a batch-slurry reactor and the effect of changes on reaction parameters such as temperature, catalyst, and composition ratio of the feed mixture was considered. It was found that acid-activation and pillaring increased the surface area, porosity and acidity of the catalysts. The conversion and selectivity of the catalysts were found to increase with increased benzene to polyalkylbenzenes volume ratio and the optimal temperature of catalytic transalkylation reaction of heavy polyalkylbenzenes was found to be 225 °C. The alumina-pillared sulfuric acid-activated bentonite possessed higher catalytic activity than sulfuric acid-activated bentonite and it showed 80% conversion of heavy polyalkylbenzenes and 85% selectivity to linear alkylbenzenes at optimum conditions (225 °C and benzene to polyalkylbenzenes volume ratio of 16).

Keywords:

Transalkylation , Heavy polyalkylbenzenes , Linear alkylbenzenes , Bentonite catalyst