NORMAL PARAFFIN COMPOSITION

Abstract

The present invention relates to a normal paraffin composition comprising from 45 to 60 wt. % of a fraction of normal paraffin having from 10 to 13 carbon atoms and from 40 to 55 wt. % of a fraction of normal paraffin having from 14 to 18 carbon atoms.

Claims

1. A normal paraffin composition comprising from 45 to 60 wt. % of a fraction of normal paraffin having from 10 to 13 carbon atoms and from 40 to 55 wt. % of a fraction of normal paraffin having from 14 to 18 carbon atoms.

2. The normal paraffin composition according to claim 1, comprising 49 wt. % of the fraction of normal paraffin having from 10 to 13 carbon atoms and 51 wt. % of a fraction of normal paraffin having from 14 to 18 carbon atoms based on the total amount of the normal paraffin composition.

3. The normal paraffin composition according to claim 1, wherein the fraction of normal paraffin having from 10 to 13 carbon atoms comprises 10 carbon atoms in the range of from 10 to 11 wt. %, 11 carbon atoms in the range of from 30 to 32 wt. %, 12 carbon atoms in a range of from 30 to 32 wt. % and 13 carbon atoms in a range of from 23 to 26 wt. % based on the amount of the normal paraffin having from 10 to 13 carbon atoms.

4. The normal paraffin composition according to claim 1, wherein the fraction of normal paraffin having from 14 to 18 carbon atoms comprises 14 carbon atoms in a range of from 25 to 27 wt. %, 15 carbon atoms in a range of from 24 to 26 wt. %, 16 carbon atoms in a range of from 22 to 23 wt. %, 17 carbon atoms in a range of from 18 to 20 wt. % and 18 carbon atoms in a range of from 4 to 6 wt. % based on the amount of the normal paraffin having from 14 to 18 carbon atoms.

5. The normal paraffin composition according to claim 1, wherein the normal paraffin is a Fischer-Tropsch derived normal paraffin composition.

6. A process to prepare a normal paraffin composition comprising the following steps: (a) providing a Fischer-Tropsch product stream; (b) separating the Fischer-Tropsch product stream of step (a), thereby obtaining a gaseous hydrocarbon stream and a first liquid hydrocarbon stream; (c) cooling of the gaseous hydrocarbon stream of step (b) in one or more steps to obtain a second liquid hydrocarbon stream and a third liquid hydrocarbon stream; (d) subjecting the second and third liquid hydrocarbon streams of step (c) to a hydrogenation step, thereby obtaining a hydrogenated liquid hydrocarbon stream; (e) separating the hydrogenated liquid hydrocarbon stream of step (d) by one or more atmospheric distillation(s), thereby obtaining at least a normal paraffin composition comprising a fraction of normal paraffin fraction comprising 10 to 13 carbon atoms and a fraction of normal paraffin fraction comprising 14 to 18 carbon atoms, a normal paraffin fraction comprising 5 to 9 carbon atoms, and a hydrogenated normal paraffin fraction comprising 19 to 35 carbon atoms.

7. The process according to claim 6, wherein the normal paraffin fraction comprising 10 to 13 carbon atoms has a flashpoint according to ASTM D93 between 70 and 80 C., a kinematic viscosity according to ASTM D445 at 40 C. between 1.30 and 1.45 cSt, a pour point according to ASTM D97 below 21 C., and a density according to ASTM D1298 between 700 and 800 kg/m3.

8. The process according to claim 6, wherein the normal paraffin fraction comprising 14 to 18 carbon atoms has a flashpoint according to ASTM D93 between 100 and 130 C., a kinematic viscosity according to ASTM D445 at 40 C. between 2.00 and 3.00 cSt, a pour point according to ASTM D97 is below 12 C., and a density according to ASTM D1298 between 700 and 800 kg/m3.

9. A process to prepare linear alkyl-benzene sulphonate using a normal paraffin fraction comprising 10 to 13 carbon atoms.

Description

[0065] In another aspect, the present invention provides a process to prepare linear alkyl-benzene sulphonate using a normal paraffin fraction comprising 10 to 13 carbon atoms as obtained according to the process of the present invention.

[0066] FIG. 1 schematically shows a process scheme of the process scheme of a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention.

[0067] For the purpose of this description, a single reference number will be assigned to a line as well as a stream carried in that line.

[0068] The process scheme is generally referred to with reference numeral 1.

[0069] In a Fischer-Tropsch process reactor 2 a Fischer-Tropsch product stream is obtained. Separation into a first gaseous hydrocarbon stream 10 and a first liquid fraction 20 is accomplished in the reactor itself.

[0070] The gaseous hydrocarbon stream 10 is fed to a cooling unit 3 wherein the gaseous hydrocarbon stream is cooled and separated to obtain a second gaseous hydrocarbon stream 30 and a second liquid fraction 40. The gaseous hydrocarbon stream 30 is fed to another cooling unit 4 wherein the gaseous hydrocarbon stream 30 is cooled and separated to obtain a third gaseous hydrocarbon stream 50 and a third liquid fraction 60. The second liquid fraction 40 and the third liquid fraction 60 are fed to a hydrogenation reactor 5 to obtain a hydrogenated liquid hydrocarbon stream 70. The hydrogenated liquid hydrocarbon stream 70 is distilled in one or more atmospheric distillation columns 6 to recover a hydrogenated normal paraffin fraction 80 comprising 5 to 9 carbon atoms, a fraction 90 comprising 10 to 13 carbon atoms, a fraction 100 comprising 14 to 18 carbon atoms and a fraction 110 comprising 19 to 35 carbon atoms.

[0071] The invention is illustrated by the following non-limiting examples.

[0072] The invention is illustrated by the following non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLE 1

[0073] Product Distribution of the First, Second and Third Liquid Hydrocarbon Streams

[0074] In Table 1 the flows of molecules with indicated chain length in three liquid hydrocarbon streams is given, with full distribution of the streams depicted in FIG. 2. The first liquid stream is obtained at a pressure of 55 bar and a temperature of 215 C., the second liquid stream at a pressure of 55 bar and a temperature of 159 and the third liquid stream at a pressure of 53 bar and a temperature of 15 C. It can be seen that the majority of the normal paraffins is present in the combined stream of 2.sup.nd and 3.sup.rd liquid.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Paraffin content in 1.sup.st, 2.sup.nd and 3.sup.rd liquid hydrocarbon streams. Fraction in 2.sup.nd 1.sup.st 2.sup.nd 3.sup.rd and 3.sup.rd liquid liquid liquid liquid C10 2 2 35 94% C11 3 2 34 93% C12 3 3 33 92% C13 4 4 31 89% C14 6 5 27 85% C15 8 7 23 80% C16 10 9 18 73% C17 13 11 13 65% C18 15 12 9 57%

EXAMPLES 2 TO 3

[0075] Process to Prepare Normal Paraffins

[0076] In the comparative example 2 all the liquid hydrocarbon streams are combined and after hydrogenation used for the production of normal paraffins. The case according to the invention is represented by example 3. In Table 2 the total size of the hydrocarbon streams is indicated as well as the split in C10, target range of normal paraffins and C18+. Comparison of example 3 (according to the invention) with comparative example 2 it can be seen that the paraffin total yields were only 16% lower. However, for the comparative example the amount of feed could be reduced with as much as 76%. This enables to build the Hydrogenation Reactor and it's surrounding equipment 4 times smaller. This brings a very significant reduction in cost to build the equipment and is combined with lower energy consumption for operation. On top of that, the very low amount of heavier hydrocarbons in example 3 enables to do the final distillation at atmospheric conditions, whereas an expensive vacuum distillation operation in combination with an atmospheric distillation (to remove the lighter components) is required for the comparative example. Hence the situation as per invention in example 2 is much more attractive as the expensive vacuum distillation that requires high energy loads, could be eliminated.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Liquid hydrocarbon streams in tpd for indicated fractions. Example Liquids C10 C10-C17 C18+ Total 2 1 + 2 + 3 193 307 1781 2280 3 2 + 3 180 258 97 535

EXAMPLE 4

[0077] Process to Prepare C10 to 13 and C14 to 18 Normal Paraffins

[0078] The recovered paraffins will need further distillation to meet the product specification of the lighter C10-C13 normal paraffins and C14-C18 normal paraffins final products. The resulting compositions are given in Table 3 and Table 4. It can be seen that the compositions according to the invention are lighter compared to the comparative example.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Composition of LDF for comparative example 2 and example 3 as per invention Ex. C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 Mw 2 0.2 10 32.0 31.9 25.5 0.5 166.4 3 0.2 10 32.2 31.6 25.5 0.5 166.3

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Composition of HDF for comparative example 2 and example 3 as per invention Ex. C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 Mw 2 0.5 23.8 24.3 23.4 22.6 5.5 220.4 3 0.5 26.7 25.7 22.4 19.3 5.5 218.9

[0079] In Table 5 the normal paraffin final product weight fractions are given. It can be seen that in example 3 according to the invention almost the same amount of LDF is obtained, with a lower amount of HDF. The LDF content out of the NP products increases hence from 44 to 49%.

[0080] It is advantaged to have a larger amount of LDF, because this stream can be used very well for the production of LAB. The NP consumption for LAB production is significant and the NP has a good premium compared to kerosene.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Volumetric split of NP in LDF and HDF for comparative example 2 and example 3 as per invention LDF HDF (tpd) (tpd) LDF HDF 2 122 155 44% 56% 3 113 118 49% 51%