TRANSALKYLATION OF ALKYLATED PHENOLS

Abstract

Transalkylation processes using catalysts comprising three dimensional 12 membered ring zeolites with a combination of small and large pores are described. These catalysts have increased conversion of alkylphenols to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes from coal-derived liquid streams compared to catalysts consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite.

Claims

1. A process for transalkylation comprising: transalkylating a coal-derived liquid stream comprising alkylphenols in a transalkylation reaction zone under transalkylation conditions in the presence of a co-reactant and a transalkylation catalyst comprising a three dimensional 12 membered ring zeolite with a combination of small and large pores to produce a transalkylation effluent stream comprising one or more of phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes, the process having increased conversion of alkylphenols to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes compared to a catalyst consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite.

2. The process according to claim 1 wherein the zeolite comprises about 50 wt % HBeta or more.

3. The process according to claim 1 wherein the silica/metal oxide molar ratio of the zeolite is 80 or below.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the transalkylation catalyst further comprises about 40 wt % HZSM-5 zeolite or less.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the transalkylation catalyst comprises about 50% or more HBeta zeolite and 1 to 40% HZSM-5 zeolite, and wherein the process has increased productivity to phenol or cresols or both compared to a transalkylation catalyst consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite.

6. The process according claim 1 wherein aluminum in a framework structure of the zeolite is substituted by at least one of Fe, Ga, B, Ti, Sn, Zr, and combinations thereof.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein the zeolite further comprises a promoter comprising one or more of: transition metals, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals and rare earth metals, metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal nitrides, metal phosphides, and combinations thereof.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst further comprises a support comprising alumina, silica, zirconia, titania, or combinations thereof.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the coal-derived liquid stream comprises a mixture of alkylphenols comprising two or more of a methylphenol, an ethylphenol, a dimethylphenol, a butylphenol, a methylethylphenol, an indanol, and a naphthol, and optionally further comprising a propylphenol.

10. The process of claim 1 wherein the co-reactant comprises benzene, toluene, or a combination thereof.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein transalkylating the coal-derived liquid stream takes place in the presence of hydrogen, nitrogen, or a combination thereof.

12. The process of claim 1 wherein the transalkylation reaction zone comprises a fixed bed reactor, a moving bed reactor, an ebullated bed reactor, a fluidized bed reactor, a continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) reactor, a semi-regenerative reactor, a batch reactor, a continuous stirred tank (CSTR) reactor, a slurry reactor, or combinations thereof.

13. The process of claim 1 wherein selectivity to phenol, cresols and alkylbenzenes is about 70% or more.

14. The process of claim 1 wherein the coal-derived liquid stream comprises a portion of a coal-derived feed stream comprising a low temperature coal tar stream, a medium temperature coal tar stream, a high temperature coal tar stream, a cresylic acid stream, or a crude phenolic mixture.

15. The process of claim 1 further comprising: separating the transalkylation effluent into a phenol product stream comprising the phenol and an alkylbenzene stream comprising the alkylbenzenes.

16. The process of claim 15 further comprising: separating the alkylbenzene stream into at least a recycle co-reactant stream comprising one or more of benzene or toluene; and recycling the recycle co-reactant stream to the transalkylation zone and wherein the recycle co-reactant stream comprises at least a part of the co-reactant.

17. The process of claim 16 wherein separating the alkylbenzene stream into at least the recycle co-reactant stream comprises separating the alkylbenzene stream into at least the recycle co-reactant stream and a mixed xylenes stream comprising para-xylene, ortho-xylene, and meta-xylene; and recovering one or more of para-xylene, ortho-xylene, or meta-xylene from the mixed xylenes stream.

18. The process of claim 15 wherein separating the transalkylation effluent into the phenol product stream and the alkylbenzene stream comprises separating the transalkylation effluent into the phenol product stream, the alkylbenzene stream, and a cresol product stream comprising the cresols, and further comprising: recovering the cresol product stream.

19. The process of claim 1 wherein the transalkylation effluent stream further comprises unreacted alkylphenols, and wherein separating the transalkylation effluent into the product stream and the alkylbenzene stream comprises separating the transalkylation effluent into the phenol product stream, the alkylbenzene stream, and an unreacted alkylphenol stream comprising the unreacted alkylphenols, and further comprising: recycling the unreacted alkylphenol stream to the transalkylation reaction zone.

20. The process of claim 1 further comprising: providing a coal-derived feed stream comprising phenol and the coal-derived liquid stream; separating the coal-derived feed stream into at least a phenol stream comprising phenol and the coal-derived liquid stream before transalkylating the coal-derived liquid stream; and recovering the phenol stream.

21. The process of claim 1 further comprising: providing a coal-derived feed stream comprising phenol and the coal-derived liquid stream; separating the coal-derived feed stream into at least a phenol-cresol stream comprising phenol and cresols and the coal-derived liquid stream before transalkylating the coal-derived liquid stream; and recovering the phenol-cresol stream.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a comparison of the conversion of 4-ethylphenol in a transalkylation process using a variety of catalysts comprising zeolites.

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates a comparison of the conversion of 2,6-xylenols in a transalkylation process using a variety of catalysts comprising zeolites.

[0006] FIG. 3 illustrates a comparison of the conversion of 4-ethylphenol in a transalkylation process with N.sub.2 and H.sub.2 co-feed using HZSM-5 SAR 80 and HBeta SAR 25 zeolites.

[0007] FIG. 4 illustrates a comparison of the conversion of (A) ethylphenols and (B) xylenols from a cresylic acid feed in a transalkylation process using a variety of catalysts comprising zeolites.

[0008] FIG. 5 illustrates a comparison of the conversion of (A) ethylphenols and (B) xylenols from a cresylic acid feed in a transalkylation process using HBeta SAR 25 compared to HBeta SAR 25 (80%) mixed with other zeolites (20%).

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Coal-derived feed streams, such as low temperature coal tar, medium temperature coal tar, high temperature coal tar, cresylic acid, or a crude phenolic mixture contain phenol, alkylphenols (methylphenols (cresols), ethylphenols, dimethylphenols(xylenols), propylphenols, butylphenols, methylethylphenols, etc.), as well as heavier alkylphenols (such as indanols and napthols). Coal tar is derived from the process of dry distillation and gasification of coal and is classified based on the temperature used for this process (400-600° C. (low temperature), 600-1000° C. (medium temperature), and >1000° C. (high temperature)). Cresylic acid is a generic term referring to combinations of phenol and alkylphenols, and it can be obtained from either coal or petroleum processing, for example. A crude phenolic mixture can be obtained by the processing of coal tar oils and the purification of phenol containing waste from coke ovens, low temperature carbonization, and hydrogenation plants, for example. The composition of the feed stream will vary depending on its source.

[0010] The undesirable longer-chain alkylphenols in the coal-derived feed streams can be separated into a coal-derived liquid stream and converted to valuable products including, but not limited to, phenol, cresols, and xylenes by transalkylation. The alkylphenols in the coal-derived liquid stream can be transalkylated with a co-reactant (e.g., a co-reactant, such as benzene and/or toluene) to transfer the longer-chain alkyl group (for example, ethyl, propyl, butyl, etc.) to obtain phenol and alkylbenzenes as the new products. The alkylbenzenes, for example, xylenes, ethylbenzene, and ethyltoluenes, are in demand for industrial processes and have higher value compared to toluene. In some cases, it has been determined that phenols with methyl groups, such as cresols, xylenols, and trimethylphenols, are not easily transalkylated with an aromatic compound so the valuable phenolics remain intact.

[0011] WO 2019177458 (WO ′458) demonstrated that 4-propylphenol (model feed for biomass lignin-derived phenol) can be transalkylated with benzene using an HZSM-5 catalyst. Several other zeolites were tested (HMOR and HY) but were not as active as HZSM-5.

[0012] In “Conversion of alkylphenol to phenol via transalkylation using zeolite catalysts,” Yoshikawa et al., Catalysis Today, (2018), https://dol.org/1-.1016/j.cattod.2-18.08.009, it was demonstrated that 4-propylphenol (a model feed for biomass lignin-derived phenol) can be transalkylated with benzene in a batch reactor over HBeta, HZSM-5 and HMOR zeolites. They found that HZSM-5 yielded a greater amount of transalkylation products (phenol and propylbenzenes) than HBeta or HMOR zeolites.

[0013] US 2020/0031741 describes a process and apparatus for cresol transalkylation with toluene and/or benzene to phenol and aromatics/alkylbenzenes in the presence of transalkylation catalysts (homogeneous or heterogeneous acid catalysts) from coal-derived liquids. It also describes xylenol transalkylation with benzene to make phenol and aromatics/alkylbenzenes in the presence of transalkylation catalysts.

[0014] However, the feeds in these references were limited (i.e., a single compound) and did not involve a broad range of alkylphenols. Low and medium temperature coal tar, cresylic acid, and a crude phenolic mixture are complex mixtures of alkylphenols, and contain a greater percentage of dimethylphenols (e.g., 3.0-34.5 wt %), methylethylphenols (e.g., 0-3.0 wt %) and ethylphenols (e.g., 2.0-38.5 wt %) than propylphenols (e.g., 0-1%). The methyl and ethyl groups of alkylphenols are much harder to remove than the propyl groups.

[0015] The coal-derived liquid stream from the coal-derived feed stream comprises a complex mixture of alkylphenols comprising one or more methylphenols (cresols), ethylphenols, dimethylphenols (xylenols), propylphenols, butylphenols, methylethylphenols, etc.), as well as heavier alkylphenols (such as indanols and napthols). It has been found that catalysts comprising three dimensional 12 membered ring zeolites with a combination of smaller and larger pores have increased conversion of these complex mixtures of alkylphenols to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes compared to catalysts consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite.

[0016] One suitable zeolite comprising three dimensional 12 membered rings with a combination of smaller and larger pores is HBeta zeolite. Catalysts made with these zeolites have increased conversion of complex mixtures of alkylphenols as described above to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes compared to catalysts consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite. The catalysts comprising HBeta zeolites are very stable in the transalkylation process, with less than about 5% decrease in conversion of alkylphenols to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes over 25 hr. As a result, catalysts containing HBeta zeolites can be successfully used to convert low and medium temperature coal tar, cresylic acid, or a crude phenolic mixture to phenol, cresols, and aromatics, such as benzene and xylenes.

[0017] Any suitable HBeta zeolite can be used. HBeta zeolite is a three dimensional zeolite with 12 membered ring channels and a combination of large and small pores. The diameter of the larger pores are 6.6×6.7(Å), and the diameter of the small pores are 5.6×5.6 (Å) (www.iza-structure.org/databases/). The aluminum in the zeolite framework structure may be substituted, either partially or completely, by other metals including, but not limited to, Fe, Ga, B, Ti, Sn, Zr, and combinations thereof. The HBeta zeolite can have a silica/metal oxide molar ratio of 1-200, or 200 or below, or 150 or below, or 100 or below, or 80 or below, or 60 or below, or 50 or below, or 40 or below, or 30 or below, or 25 or below. When the metal oxide is alumina, this is commonly referred to as SAR (silica/alumina (SiO.sub.2/Al.sub.2O.sub.3) ratio). When another metal is partially substituted for aluminum in the framework structure, the amount of metal oxide in the silica/metal oxide ratio is the total amount of metal oxide (i.e., the amount of alumina+the amount of other metal oxide). HBeta zeolites are available from many companies, including, but not limited to, Zeolyst International, Clariant Ltd, and TOSOH Corporation. Some properties of HBeta zeolites are compared to other common zeolites in Table 1.

[0018] Of the HBeta zeolites tested, the catalysts containing HBeta SAR 25 zeolites were found to be the best catalysts for transalkylation of ethylphenols and methylphenols with toluene and for the transalkylation of 2,6 xylenol with toluene.

[0019] The catalyst comprising HBeta zeolite has a product selectivity to phenol, cresols and alkylbenzenes is 70% or more, or 75% or more, or 80% or more, or 85% or more, or 90% or more, or 95% or more. The catalyst comprising HBeta zeolite has a conversion of 4-ethylphenol of 60% or more, or 65% or more, or 70% or more, or 75% or more, or 80% or more. The catalyst comprising HBeta zeolite has a conversion of 2,6-xylenol of 20% or more, or 30% or more, or 40% or more.

[0020] The catalyst comprising HBeta zeolite has a productivity to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes of 500 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 750 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 1000 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 1250 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 1300 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 1500 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 1750 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more, or 2000 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more.

[00001]$\mathrm{Conversion}\left(\%\right)=\frac{\left(\mathrm{Reactant}\mathrm{Moles}\mathrm{IN}-\mathrm{Reactant}\mathrm{Moles}\mathrm{OUT}\right)}{\left(\mathrm{Reactant}\mathrm{Moles}\mathrm{IN}\right)}\times 100\mathrm{Product}\mathrm{Selectivity}\left(\mathrm{mol}\%\right)=\frac{\mathrm{Product}\left(\mathrm{moles}\right)}{\mathrm{All}\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{containing}\mathrm{Products}\left(\mathrm{moles}\right)}\times 100\mathrm{Productivity}\left(\frac{g}{\mathrm{kg}.Math.\mathrm{hr}}\right)=\frac{\mathrm{Product}\mathrm{Mass}\mathrm{OUT}\left(\frac{g}{\mathrm{hr}}\right)}{\mathrm{Catalyst}\mathrm{Amount}\left(\mathrm{kg}\right)}$

[0021] The catalyst composition can be modified to improve catalyst stability and selectivity to the desired products with minimal side reactions. For example, other zeolites (including, but not limited to, HZSM-5, HY, HMOR, HMCM-22, and others) can be mixed with HBeta to adjust the activity and product selectivity. Additionally, the catalyst composition could include promoters typically including, but not limited to, one or more of transition metals from Group IB to VIII, alkali metals from Group IA, alkaline earth metals from Group IIA, rare earth metals from Lanthanide series, metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal nitrides, metal phosphides, and combinations thereof. The catalyst can also be combined with a porous inorganic support material, such as alumina, silica, zirconia, titania, and combinations thereof.

[0022] The catalyst typically comprises about 50 wt % HBeta zeolite or more, or about 60 wt % or more, or about 70 wt % or more, or about 75 wt % or more, or about 80 wt % or more, or about 85 wt % or more, or about 90 wt % or more, or about 95 wt % or more, or about 50% to 100%, or about 50% to about 99%, or about 50% to about 97%, or about 50% to about 95%.

[0023] The catalyst may comprise less than about 40 wt % HZSM-5 catalyst, or less than about 35 wt %, or less than about 30 wt %, or less than about 25 wt %, or less than about 20 wt %, or less than about 15 wt %, or less than about 10 wt %, or less than about 5 wt %, or less than about 3 wt %, or less than about 1 wt %.

[0024] The catalyst can perform transalkylation of alkylphenols including methylphenols (cresols), ethylphenols, dimethylphenols (xylenols), propylphenols, butylphenols, methylethylphenols, and the like, including complex mixtures thereof, such as coal-derived liquid streams, efficiently and in a low-cost process.

[0025] The transalkylation process can be performed in any suitable reactor type, including but not limited to, fixed bed reactors, moving bed reactors, ebullated bed reactors, fluidized bed reactors, continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) reactors, semi-regenerative reactors, batch reactors, continuous stirred tank (CSTR) reactors, and slurry bed reactors, or combinations thereof.

[0026] Any suitable transalkylation reaction conditions can be used. The transalkylation reaction conditions will depend on the particular reactor type use, as is known in the art. For example, with a fixed bed reactor, the transalkylation reaction conditions can include at least one of: a temperature in a range of about 50° C. to about 600° C.; a pressure in a range of about 0 to about 15 MPa; or a liquid weight hourly space velocity in a range of about 0.1 to about 30 hr.sup.−1. Those of skill in the art can select the appropriate reaction conditions for the reactor being used.

[0027] One aspect of the invention is a process for transalkylation. In one embodiment, the process comprises: transalkylating a coal-derived liquid stream comprising alkylphenols in a transalkylation reaction zone under transalkylation conditions in the presence of a co-reactant and a transalkylation catalyst comprising a three dimensional 12 membered ring zeolite with a combination of small and large pores to produce a transalkylation effluent stream comprising one or more of phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes, the process having increased conversion of alkylphenols to phenol, cresols, and alkylbenzenes compared to a catalyst consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite.

[0028] In some embodiments, the zeolite comprises about 50 wt % HBeta or more.

[0029] In some embodiments, the silica/metal oxide molar ratio of the zeolite is 80 or below.

[0030] In some embodiments, the transalkylation catalyst further comprises about 40 wt % HZSM-5 zeolite or less.

[0031] In some embodiments, the transalkylation catalyst comprises about 50% or more HBeta zeolite and 1 to 40% HZSM-5 zeolite, and wherein the process has increased productivity to phenol or cresols or both compared to a transalkylation catalyst consisting of HZSM-5 zeolite.

[0032] In some embodiments, aluminum from the zeolite framework structure is substituted by at least one of Fe, Ga, B, Ti, Sn, Zr, and combinations thereof.

[0033] In some embodiments, the zeolite further comprises a promoter comprising one or more of: transition metals, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals and rare earth metals, metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal nitrides, metal phosphides, and combinations thereof.

[0034] In some embodiments, the catalyst further comprises a support comprising alumina, silica, zirconia, titania, or combinations thereof.

[0035] In some embodiments, the coal-derived liquid stream comprises a mixture of alkylphenols comprising two or more of: a methylphenol, an ethylphenol, a dimethylphenol, a butylphenol, a methylethylphenol, an indanol, and a naphthol, and optionally further comprising a propylphenol.

[0036] In some embodiments, the co-reactant may be a co-reactant such as benzene, toluene, or a combination thereof.

[0037] In some embodiments, transalkylating the coal-derived liquid stream takes place in the presence of hydrogen, nitrogen, or a combination thereof.

[0038] In some embodiments, the transalkylation reaction zone comprises a fixed bed reactor, a moving bed reactor, an ebullated bed reactor, a fluidized bed reactor, a continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) reactor, a semi-regenerative reactor, a batch reactor, a continuous stirred tank (CSTR) reactor, a slurry reactor, or combinations thereof.

[0039] In some embodiments, productivity to phenol, cresols and alkylbenzenes is 1300 g/Kg-catalyst/h or more.

[0040] In some embodiments, selectivity to phenol, cresols and alkylbenzenes is about 70% or more.

[0041] In some embodiments, the coal-derived liquid stream comprises a low temperature coal tar stream, a medium temperature coal tar stream, a high temperature coal tar stream, a cresylic acid stream, or a crude phenolic mixture.

[0042] In some embodiments, the process further comprises: separating the transalkylation effluent into a phenol product stream comprising the phenol and an alkylbenzene stream comprising the alkylbenzenes.

[0043] In some embodiments, the process further comprises: separating the alkylbenzene stream into at least a recycle co-reactant stream such as one or more of benzene or toluene; and recycling the recycle co-reactant stream to the transalkylation zone and wherein the recycle stream comprises at least a part of the co-reactant.

[0044] In some embodiments, separating the alkylbenzene stream into at least the recycle co-reactant stream comprises separating the alkylbenzene stream into at least the recycle co-reactant stream and a mixed xylenes stream comprising para-xylene, ortho-xylene, and meta-xylene; and recovering one or more of para-xylene, ortho-xylene, or meta-xylene from the mixed xylenes stream.

[0045] In some embodiments, separating the transalkylation effluent into the product stream and the alkylbenzene stream comprises separating the transalkylation effluent into the phenol product stream, the alkylbenzene stream, and a cresol product stream comprising the cresols, and further comprises: recovering the cresol product stream.

[0046] In some embodiments, the transalkylation effluent stream further comprises unreacted alkylphenols, and wherein separating the transalkylation effluent into the product stream and the alkylbenzene stream comprises separating the transalkylation effluent into the phenol product stream, the alkylbenzene stream, and an unreacted alkylphenol stream comprising the unreacted alkylphenols, and further comprises: recycling the unreacted alkylphenol stream to the transalkylation reaction zone.

[0047] In some embodiments, the process further comprises: providing a coal-derived feed stream comprising phenol and the coal-derived liquid stream; separating the coal-derived feed stream into at least a phenol stream comprising phenol and the coal-derived liquid stream before transalkylating the coal-derived liquid stream; and recovering the phenol stream.

[0048] In some embodiments, the process further comprises: providing a coal-derived feed stream comprising phenol and the coal-derived liquid stream; separating the coal-derived feed stream into at least a phenol-cresol stream comprising phenol and cresols and the coal-derived liquid stream before transalkylating the coal-derived liquid stream; and recovering the phenol-cresol stream.

EXAMPLES

[0049] The following commercial catalysts were evaluated.

TABLE-US-00001 Manufacture Silica/Alumina Molar Zeolite (Material Code) Ratio (SAR)* HBeta Clariant (HCZB25) 25 HBeta Zeolyst (CP814C) 38 HBeta Clariant (HCZB150) 150 HZSM-5 Clariant (NH4CZP30) 30 HZSM-5 Zeolyst (CBV8014) 80 HZSM-5 Zeolyst (CBV28014) 280 HY Zeolyst (CBV500) 5.2 HY Zeolyst (CBV712) 12 HMOR Zeolyst (CBV21A) 38 *Provided by manufacturer.

Example 1

[0050] Several commercial zeolites were evaluated for the transalkylation of 4-ethylphenol (4-EP) with toluene to form phenol and ethyltoluenes.

[0051] The reaction conditions included using an isothermal fixed bed reactor set to a temperature of 400° C., a pressure of 1350 psig, a WHSV of 2.3 h.sup.−1, 1.25 g catalyst, toluene:feed of 11 mol/mol, and N.sub.2 feed rate of 25 mL/min. The catalyst was pretreated in N.sub.2 and heated to 200° C. (3° C./min) and held at 200° C. for 2 h followed by heating to 450° C. (5° C./min) and held for 3 h before cooling down to 400° C.

[0052] Table 2 and FIG. 1 show the results of the conversion of 4-ethylphenol. Conversion and selectivity were obtained after 30 h TOS (time on stream) for most runs. or 35 h TOS for HBeta SAR 25, HBeta SAR 150, and HZSM-5 SAR 80. The product selectivity is based on the carbon product composition excluding toluene and 4-ethylphenol. BEX refers to benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 1, the catalysts comprising HBeta SAR 25 and HBeta SAR 38 zeolites outperformed the catalysts comprising HZSM-5 SAR 30 and HZSM-5 SAR 80 zeolites. The catalyst comprising HBeta SAR 150 zeolite outperformed the HZSM-5 SAR 30 and HZSM-5 SAR 80 zeolites after 20 h TOS. In addition, the catalyst containing a combination of 80% HBeta SAR 25 zeolite and 20% HZSM-5 SAR 80 zeolite also outperformed the catalyst comprising HZSM-5 SAR 80 zeolite alone.

[0054] The catalyst comprising HBeta SAR 25 was the best catalyst for the reaction of 4-EP with toluene, with over 81% conversion and over 69% product selectivity to the desired phenol and ethyltoluene products. The catalyst comprising HBeta SAR 38 had the highest productivity to phenol+cresols at 1180 g/kg cat/hr and to phenol+cresols+alkylbenzenes (BEX and ethyltoluenes) at 3056 g/kg cat/hr.

[0055] The HBeta SAR 25 containing catalyst had only a 2% drop in conversion over 30 h TOS, demonstrating the stability of the catalyst.

[0056] Another desirable pathway (disproportionation of toluene) converts toluene to benzene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BEX). The catalyst comprising HBeta SAR 25 had a 12.6% product selectivity for converting toluene to BEX.

[0057] A catalyst comprising a mixture of 80% HBeta SAR 25 with 20% HZSM-5 SAR 80 had a slightly lower conversion of about 77% compared to 81% for a catalyst comprising all HBeta SAR 25; however, the selectivity to the desired products (phenol+ethyltoluene) was improved from 69% to over 72%, while the amount of other products was decreased from 10.0% to 7.7%.

Example 2

[0058] Several commercial zeolites were evaluated for the transalkylation of 2,6 xylenol with toluene to form phenol, cresols, benzene, xylenes along with other alkylbenzenes. The reaction conditions included using an isothermal fixed bed reactor set to a temperature of 400° C., a pressure of 1350 psig, a WHSV of 2.3 h.sup.−1, 1.25 g catalyst, toluene: feed of 10 mol/mol, and N.sub.2 feed rate of 25 mL/min. The catalyst was pretreated in N.sub.2 and heated to 200° C. (3° C./min) and held at 200° C. for 2 h followed by heating to 450° C. (5° C./min) and held for 3 h before cooling down to 400° C.

[0059] Conversion and selectivity were obtained at 35 h TOS.

[0060] As shown in Table 3 and FIG. 2, the HBeta SAR 25 and HBeta SAR 150 zeolites outperformed the HZSM-5 SAR 80 zeolite.

[0061] HBeta SAR 150 was the best catalyst for this reaction as well, with over 95% conversion and over 55% selectivity to the desired cresols and xylenes products as shown in Table 2. The HBeta SAR 150 had the highest productivity to phenol+cresols at 931 g/kg cat/hr and to phenol+cresols+alkylbenzenes at 2791 g/kg cat/hr. Furthermore, there was only 1% drop in conversion over 25 h TOS. HBeta SAR 25 also performed nearly as well as HBeta SAR 150, with over 95% conversion and 52% selectivity to the desired cresols and xylenes products.

[0062] Although the 2,6-xylenol conversion was higher compared to 4-EP, the methyl group of the 2,6-xylenol was found to be harder to remove than the ethyl group of 4-EP. 4-EP transalkylation only showed 5.4% selectivity to isomerization products (other ethylphenols), while the xylenol transalkylation had a much higher selectivity to isomerization products (other xylenols) of 23.8% for HBeta SAR 25.

Example 3

[0063] Commercial zeolites were evaluated for the transalkylation of 4-ethylphenol (4-EP) with toluene to form phenol and ethyltoluenes. The conditions were the same as Example 1 except the gas feed was a mixture of N.sub.2 at a feed rate of 12.5 mL/min and H.sub.2 at a feed rate of 12.5 mL/min.

[0064] Conversion and selectivity were obtained at 30 h TOS.

[0065] As shown in Table 4 and FIG. 3, the addition of the H.sub.2 co-feed increased the ethylphenol conversion of the HZSM-5 SAR 80 to 78.8% compared to 77.9% for the HBeta SAR 25. The phenol and cresol productivity was also higher at 1050 g/kg cat/hr, but the phenol+cresol+alkylbenzenes productivity of 2349 g/kg cat/hr was lower than for HBeta SAR 25 at 2387 g/kg cat/hr.

Example 4

[0066] Several commercial zeolites were evaluated for the transalkylation of cresylic acid (SASOL, CA68) with toluene to form phenol, cresols, ethyltoluene, xylenes, along with benzene and other alkylbenzenes. The cresylic acid composition was 25 wt % cresols, 34.5 wt % xylenols, 38.5 wt % ethylphenols, and 2.0 wt % other compounds (as measured). The reaction conditions included using an isothermal fixed bed reactor set to a temperature of 400° C., a pressure of 1350 psig, a WHSV of 2.3 h.sup.−1, 1.25 g catalyst, toluene: cresylic acid of 8.2 g/g, N.sub.2 feed rate of 12.5 mL/min, and H.sub.2 feed rate of 12.5 mL/min. The catalyst was pretreated in N.sub.2, heated to 200° C. (3° C./min), and held at 200° C. for 2 h, followed by heating to 450° C. (5° C./min) and holding for 3 h before cooling down to 400° C.

[0067] The conversion and selectivity were obtained at 30 h TOS except for HY SAR which were obtained at 25 h TOS. Negative selectivity means that cresols were destroyed in the process.

[0068] As shown in Table 5 and FIGS. 4A and 4B, HBeta SAR 25 was found to be good at converting both ethylphenol and xylenol in the cresylic acid compared to the other zeolites tested. HZSM-5 SAR 30 was found to be a better catalyst for ethylphenol conversion than HBeta SAR 25, with 79% conversion compared to 69% conversion for HBeta SAR 25. However, for xylenol conversion, HBeta SAR 25 was the better catalyst, with 49% conversion, compared with 26% conversion for HZSM-5 SAR 30. HZSM-5 SAR 30 was found to have the highest phenol+cresol productivity at 472 g/kg cat/hr slightly higher than HBeta SAR 25 at 468 g/kg cat/hr. However, HBeta SAR 25 had the highest productivity to phenol+cresols+alkylbenzenes at 1235 g/kg cat/hr.

[0069] All of the catalysts had greater than 90% selectivity to desired products (phenol, cresols, ethyltoluenes, and BEX) with less than 10% selectivity to other products (diethylphenols, gases, and unknown liquids).

[0070] HBeta SAR 25 (80%) was then mixed with several other catalysts (20%) and the results are shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The addition of 20% HZSM-5 SAR 30 increased the ethylphenol conversion to 81%, while the xylenol conversion was slightly lower than the pure HBeta SAR 25 at 45.5% conversion. The amount of unknown liquids was also decreased to 3.0%, compared to 5.3% on the pure HBeta SAR 25. This catalyst mixture was also found to have the highest phenol+cresol productivity at 509 g/kg cat/hr and phenol+cresols+alkylbenzenes productivity at 1368 g/kg cat/hr.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 1 IZA Pore Ring Pore Zeolite Code Diameter size Structure Y FAU 7.4 × 7.4 12 3D Beta BEA 6.6 × 6.7 12 3D 5.6 × 5.6 12 Mordenite MOR 6.5 × 7.0 12 1D 3.4 × 4.8 8 2.6 × 5.7 8 ZSM-5 MFI 5.3 × 5.6 10 3D 5.1 × 5.5 10 Ferrierite FER 4.2 × 5.4 10 2D 3.5 × 4.8 8

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 2 4EP Ethyl Methyl Conv. Phenol toluenes BEX phenols Catalyst (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) HZSM-5 53.5 33.5 28.8 3.8 1.6 SAR 30 HZSM-5 57.4 36.0 31.5 4.6 0.5 SAR 80 HBeta 81.0 34.4 34.5 12.6 3.1 SAR 25 HBeta 78.6 31.3 32.6 15.9 4.3 SAR 38 HBeta 66.5 28.0 28.2 16.9 1.7 SAR 150 HY 31.0 39.7 20.2 3.6 0.7 SAR 5.2 HMOR 30.0 29.6 18.4 7.2 0.0 SAR 38 80% 76.9 36.8 35.6 10.1 1.8 HBeta SAR 25 + 20% HZSM-5 SAR 80 Other Phenol + Ethyl Phenol + Cresols + phenols Others Cresols Alkylbenzenes Catalyst (%) (%) (g/kg cat/h) (g/kg cat/h) HZSM-5 25.5 6.8 495 1073 SAR 30 HZSM-5 22.7 4.7 591 1308 SAR 80 HBeta 5.4 10.0 968 2439 SAR 25 HBeta 5.3 10.7 1180 3056 SAR 38 HBeta 11.4 13.8 618 1712 SAR 150 HY 11.4 24.4 365 631 SAR 5.2 HMOR 31.9 12.9 216 433 SAR 38 80% 8.0 7.7 969 2354 HBeta SAR 25 + 20% HZSM-5 SAR 80

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 3 2, 6 Xyl Other Conv. Phenol Cresols Xylenols Benzene Catalyst (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) HZSM-5 46.2 4.0 2.1 72.3 8.0 SAR 80 HBeta 95.4 5.7 19.1 23.8 9.7 SAR 25 HY 70.7 2.5 13.9 57.3 5 SAR 5.2 HBeta 95.0 4.0 19.7 19.3 13.6 SAR 150 HMOR 70.8 0.0 8.1 82.2 1.2 SAR 38 Other Phenol + Alkyl Phenol + Cresols + Xylenes benzenes Others Cresols Alkyl benzenes Catalyst (%) (%) (%) (g/kg cat/h) (g/kg cat/h) HZSM-5 7.1 3.4 3.2 66 262 SAR 80 HBeta 33.0 1.0 7.7 825 2212 SAR 25 HY 10.7 0.0 10.7 297 558 SAR 5.2 HBeta 36.2 1.0 6.3 931 2791 SAR 150 HMOR 4.6 0.0 3.8 131 218 SAR 38

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 4 Other Phenol + 4EP Ethyl Methyl Ethyl Phenol + Cresols + Conv. Phenol toluenes BEX phenols phenols Others Cresols Alkylbenzenes Catalyst (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (g/kg cat/h) (g/kg cat/h) HZSM-5 78.8 39.8 37.8 3.7 7.1 9.6 2.0 1050 2349 SAR 80 HBeta 77.9 35.7 34.8 11.1 4.5 7.1 7.8 1019 2387 SAR 25

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 5 Phenol + EP Xyl. Phenol + Cresols + Conv. Conv. Phenol Cresols Ethyltoluenes BEX Others Cresols Alkylbenzenes Catalyst (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (g/kg cat/h) (g/kg cat/h) HZSM-5 79.0 26.0 42.9 2.0 39.2 13.5 2.4 472 1138 SAR 30 HZSM-5 42.7 10.0 45.6 −1.0 37.8 15.6 1.9 249 611 SAR 80 HZSM-5 6.1 4.5 44.5 19.4 28.4 7.1 0.6 164 273 SAR 280 HBeta 69.3 49.1 33.3 5.1 22.7 33.6 5.3 468 1235 SAR 25) HMOR 38.2 25.6 37.8 −1.1 23.4 33.5 6.4 169 463 SAR 38 HY 44.7 44.2 36.6 −3.7 22.3 34.5 10.6 224 668 SAR 12 80% HBeta 81.0 45.5 34.0 4.9 28.2 29.9 3.0 509 1368 SAR 25 + 20% HZSM-5 SAR 30 80% HBeta 71.9 43.4 35.0 4.2 26.6 30.9 3.3 421 1123 SAR 25 + 20% HZSM-5 SAR 80 80% HBeta 65.0 46.0 31.5 7.1 20.8 33.7 6.9 495 1265 SAR 25 + 20% HY SAR 12

[0071] As used herein, the term “zone” can refer to an area including one or more equipment items and/or one or more sub-zones. Equipment items can include one or more reactors or reactor vessels, heaters, exchangers, pipes, pumps, compressors, and controllers. Additionally, an equipment item, such as a reactor, dryer, or vessel, can further include one or more zones or sub-zones.

[0072] As used herein, the term “about,” means within 10% of the value, or within 5%, or within 1%.

[0073] While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the invention, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.