An ethylbenzene dehydrogenation plant for producing styrene which comprises a reaction section in which one or more adiabatic reaction apparatuses are positioned in series, and a steam circuit in which there is at least one first steam heat exchange apparatus; said plant being characterized in that it comprises heating equipment in which there is a heating circuit by means of recirculation of the fumes formed during dehydrogenation processes of ethylbenzene to give styrene, wherein said heating equipment comprises the following apparatuses in fluid communication with each other by means of said heating circuit: one or more ultra-heating apparatuses, one or more combustion devices in which at least one steam diffuser, one burner and at least one mixing apparatus are inserted, one or more ventilation device(s).

Disclosed is a process for the catalytic dehydrogenation of alkanes so as to form the corresponding olefins. The reaction mixture is subjected to membrane separation of hydrogen, in a separate unit. Preferably a plurality of alternating reaction and separation units is used. The process of the invention serves the purpose of reducing coke formation on the catalyst, and also of achieving a higher alkane conversion without a similar increase in coke formation. The process can also be used for the production of hydrogen.

The present invention is directed to improved methods and systems for increasing the efficiency of a dehydrogenation section of an alkenyl aromatic hydrocarbon production facility, wherein an alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon, such as ethylbenzene, is dehydrogenated to produce an alkenyl aromatic hydrocarbon, such as styrene. The disclosed methods are more energy-efficient and cost effective than currently known methods for manufacturing styrene. The methods and systems advantageously utilize multiple reheat exchangers arranged in a series and/or parallel configuration that result in an energy consumption reduction and, consequently, a utility cost savings, as well as a reduction in styrene manufacturing plant investment costs.

An improved catalytic dehydrogenation process which process comprises contacting an alkane or alkyl aromatic feedstream with a dehydrogenation catalyst under catalytic conditions in an up-flow fluidized reactor, wherein the fluidized reactor comprises one or more reactors, which catalytic conditions include a temperature within a range of from 500 to 800° C., a weight hourly space velocity within a range of from 0.1 to 1000, a gas residence time within a range of from 0.1 to 10 seconds, and, subsequent to the fluidized reactor, effecting separation of entrained catalyst from reactor effluent by use of a cyclonic separation system, wherein the improvement comprises interposing a cooling means between an up-flow fluidized reactor and the cyclonic separation system to substantially halt thermal reactions, thereby effectively increasing overall molar selectivity to alkene product is provided.

The disclosure provides an improved endothermic hydrocarbon conversion process that comprises reacting a hydrocarbon with a multi-component catalyst bed, and regenerating the catalyst bed with air, where the air used in regeneration step and hydrocarbon are at low air to hydrocarbon ratios and optionally at near-atmospheric pressures.

A system for hydrocarbon decomposition comprising a reactor volume, a mechanism to distribute the liquid catalyst as a liquid mist, a distributor to distribute a hydrocarbon reactant, a heat source, a separator to separate the solid product from the liquid catalyst, a re-circulation path and mechanism to re-circulate the liquid catalyst, and an outlet for at least one gaseous product. A system to distribute a liquid to an enclosed volume as a mist has a plurality of orifices designed to break the liquid into a mist. A method to decompose a hydrocarbon reactant includes generating a mist of a liquid catalyst, heating the reactor volume, introducing a hydrocarbon reactant into the reactor volume to produce a solid product and a gaseous product, separating the solid product from the liquid catalyst, removing the solid and gaseous products from the reactor volume, and recirculating the liquid catalyst to the reactor volume.

An endothermic catalytic dehydrogenation process conducted in gas phase in system including a reactor with a catalyst bed including an inorganic catalytic material and a first inert material including the steps of: feeding a first stream having an alkane of the formulae I C.sub.nH.sub.2n+1R.sup.1 with n≧3 and R.sup.1═H or aryl to be dehydrogenated into the reactor, and simultaneously or subsequently feeding a second stream including a mixture of an inert gas and a reactive gas selected from the group of alkanes of the formulae II C.sub.mH.sub.2m+2 with m≧2, or alkenes of the formulae III C.sub.mH.sub.2m with .sub.m≧2. The alkane to be dehydrogenated of formulae I in first stream has at least one more carbon atom than the alkane of formulae II and alkene of formulae III in the second stream.

In a process for dehydrogenating cyclohexylbenzene and/or alkyl-substituted cyclohexylbenzene compounds, a dehydrogenation catalyst comprising at least one Group 10 metal compound on a support is heated in the presence of hydrogen from a first temperature from 0° C. to 200° C. to a second, higher temperature from 60° C. to 500° C. at a ramp rate no more than 100° C./hour. The dehydrogenation catalyst is contacted with hydrogen at the second temperature for a time from 3 to 300 hours to produce an activated dehydrogenation catalyst. A feed comprising cyclohexylbenzene and/or an alkyl-substituted cyclohexylbenzene compound is then contacted with hydrogen in the presence of the activated dehydrogenation catalyst under conditions effective to produce a dehydrogenation reaction product comprising biphenyl and/or an alkyl-substituted biphenyl compound.

A process for producing ethylene and at least one of butanol and an alkyl tert-butyl ether from field butane includes separating the field butane into an n-butane stream and an isobutane stream; cracking the n-butane stream to obtain a cracked product stream comprising n-butane, 1-butene, 2-butene, butadienes, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and at least one of the following: (1) separating the cracked product stream to obtain a butane stream and a butene stream, and reacting the butene stream with water to obtain a fuel additive comprising butanol, and (2) dehydrogenating the isobutane stream in a dehydrogenation unit to form an isobutene stream and reacting the isobutene stream with an aliphatic alcohol to produce an alkyl tert-butyl ether.

A process for producing ethylene and at least one of butanol and an alkyl tert-butyl ether from field butane includes separating the field butane into an n-butane stream and an isobutane stream; cracking the n-butane stream to obtain a cracked product stream comprising n-butane, 1-butene, 2-butene, butadienes, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and at least one of the following: (1) separating the cracked product stream to obtain a butane stream and a butene stream, and reacting the butene stream with water to obtain a fuel additive comprising butanol, and (2) dehydrogenating the isobutane stream in a dehydrogenation unit to form an isobutene stream and reacting the isobutene stream with an aliphatic alcohol to produce an alkyl tert-butyl ether.