阅读说明：本技术 线性α-烯烃方法 (Linear alpha-olefin process ) 是由 P·W·艾伦 K·C·纳德勒尔 J·R·莱特纳 M·W·韦伯 T·A·雷内 R·M·克罗斯 于 2018-12-04 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开内容提供制备线性α-烯烃的设备组和制备线性α-烯烃的方法。在至少一个实施方案中,制备线性α-烯烃的方法包括在至少一个反应器中在催化剂和工艺溶剂存在下使烯烃低聚合,将反应器流出物猝灭,和使所述经猝灭流出物经历分离步骤而获得富含一种或多种线性α-烯烃的料流。(The present disclosure provides a train of equipment and a process for producing linear alpha-olefins. In at least one embodiment, a process for producing linear alpha-olefins comprises oligomerizing olefins in the presence of a catalyst and a process solvent in at least one reactor, quenching the reactor effluent, and subjecting the quenched effluent to a separation step to obtain a stream enriched in one or more linear alpha-olefins.)

1. A process for forming one or more linear alpha-olefins, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a feed comprising an olefin, a catalyst and a process solvent to a reaction zone comprising at least one reactor under oligomerization conditions to obtain a reactor effluent produced in the at least one reactor;

(b) contacting at least a portion of the reactor effluent with a quenching agent to obtain a quenched effluent;

(c) separating at least a portion of the quenched effluent to obtain a vapor effluent and a liquid effluent;

(d) separating at least a portion of the liquid effluent to obtain at least one aqueous phase rich in catalyst and quencher and an organic phase lean in catalyst and quencher;

(e) separating at least a portion of the organic phase to obtain a stream enriched in one or more linear alpha-olefins.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the feed comprises <25ppb water by weight.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises:

providing the feed to a first tubular reactor under oligomerization conditions to obtain a first effluent; and

transferring the first effluent to a second tubular reactor under oligomerization conditions to obtain the reactor effluent.

4. The process of claim 3, further comprising providing steam to a first steam jacket disposed around the first tubular reactor and to a second steam jacket disposed around the second tubular reactor.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising controlling the vapor pressure in a first vapor jacket pressure regulator on the outlet of the vapor jacket to achieve a temperature (T1) within the first vapor jacket, and controlling the vapor pressure in the second vapor jacket with a pressure regulator on the outlet of the vapor jacket to achieve a temperature (T2) within the second vapor jacket, wherein (T1) is greater than temperature (T2).

6. The process of any of claims 3-5, further comprising providing additional process solvent and/or olefin to the effluent produced in the first tubular reactor prior to transferring the effluent to the second tubular reactor.

7. The process of any one of claims 1-6, further comprising (b-1) transferring the reactor effluent via an effluent line, wherein the contacting of step (b) comprises providing a quencher to the effluent line via a quencher line connected to the effluent line.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising controlling the flow rate of the reactor effluent diverted through the effluent line using a V-ball valve connected to the effluent line.

9. The process of claim 7 or 8, wherein the quencher is provided to the effluent line via a dip tube connected to the first end of the quencher line and disposed within the effluent line.

10. The process of any of claims 1-9, wherein the separating of (c) is conducted in a flash drum.

11. The process of claim 10, wherein the temperature in the flash drum is 130 ℃ or greater.

12. The process of claim 10 or 11, further comprising transferring the vapor effluent to an overhead knock-out drum to obtain a second vapor effluent and a second liquid effluent.

13. The process of claim 12, further comprising recycling said second vapor effluent to said reaction zone and recycling said second liquid effluent to said flash drum.

14. The process of any of claims 1-13, wherein the separating of (e) comprises transferring at least a portion of the organic phase to at least one distillation column.

15. The process of claim 14, wherein the olefin comprises ethylene, further comprising obtaining an ethylene-rich stream from the at least one distillation column, and recycling the ethylene-rich stream to step (a).

16. The process of claim 15, further comprising condensing the ethylene-rich stream to remove C prior to recycling₄+ olefin(s).

17. The process of any of claims 14-16, wherein at least one distillation column comprises a dividing wall.

18. The method of any one of claims 14-17, further comprising obtaining a process solvent from the at least one distillation column.

19. The process of claim 18, wherein the process solvent has an olefin content of less than 0.5 wt%.

20. The process of claim 18 or 19, further comprising recycling the process solvent to step (a).

21. The process of any of claims 1-20, wherein the process solvent is C₆-C₈Aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons.

22. The process of any one of claims 1-21, wherein the catalyst is a chromium catalyst or a zirconium catalyst.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the catalyst further comprises an aluminum catalyst.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the molar ratio of chromium or zirconium to aluminum is 12: 1.

25. The process of any of claims 1-24, wherein the oligomerization conditions are maintained such that the feed is present in a single phase within the reactor section.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the single phase is the supercritical phase.

27. The process of any of claims 1-26, wherein the separating of step (d) comprises contacting at least a portion of the liquid effluent with a caustic stream.

28. The process of claim 27, further comprising water washing at least a portion of said organic phase prior to the separating of (e).

29. The process of claim 28, further comprising subjecting at least a portion of said washed organic phase to an acid treatment prior to the separating of (e).

30. The process of any one of claims 1-29, further comprising providing hydrogen to the reactor section in step (a).

31. A plant for the production of linear alpha-olefins, said plant comprising:

a reaction zone comprising at least one reactor having one or more inlets configured to receive an olefin, a catalyst, and a process solvent;

a first effluent line coupled to the reactor at a first end of the first effluent line and coupled to a flash drum at a second end of the first effluent line, the first effluent line having at least one inlet configured to receive a quenching agent, wherein the flash drum is configured to produce a vapor effluent and a liquid effluent;

at least one distillation column in fluid communication with the flash drum, wherein the at least one distillation column is configured to receive at least a portion of the liquid effluent and produce a stream rich in one or more linear alpha-olefins.

32. The plant of claim 31 wherein the reaction zone comprises a first tubular reactor having a first end and a second end, the first end being connected to a source of olefins;

a second effluent line having a first end and a second end, the first end being connected to the second end of the first tubular reactor; and

a second tubular reactor having a first end and a second end, the first end being connected to the second end of the second effluent line.

33. The plant of claim 31 or 32 further comprising a V-ball valve connected to the first effluent line.

34. The train of any of claims 31 to 33, further comprising a dip tube connected to the quencher line and disposed within the first effluent line.

35. The train of any one of claims 31 to 34, further comprising a third effluent line connected to the flash drum at a first end of the third effluent line and to the first effluent line at a second end of the third effluent line.

36. The plant set of any one of claims 31-35 wherein the at least one distillation column comprises a dividing wall.

37. The set of any of claims 31-36, further comprising a settling drum coupled to a caustic solution mixer via an effluent line having a first end coupled to the caustic solution mixer and a second end coupled to the settling drum.

38. The train of claim 37, further comprising a water tower connected to the settling drum via an effluent line having a first end connected to the settling drum and a second end connected to the water tower.

39. The plant of claim 38 further comprising a deethanizer column connected to the water column via an effluent line having a first end connected to the water column and a second end connected to the deethanizer column.

40. The train of claim 39, wherein the at least one distillation column is connected to the deethanizer via an effluent line having a first end connected to the distillation column and a second end connected to the deethanizer.

Technical Field

The present disclosure provides a train of equipment (assemblies) for producing linear alpha olefins and a method for producing linear alpha olefins.

Background

Linear alpha-olefins (LAO) are commercially valuable for use as monomers in olefin polymerization processes, particularly the copolymerization of ethylene. For example, linear alpha-olefin monomers such as 1-butene, 1-hexene, and 1-octene may be copolymerized with ethylene to form a polyethylene copolymer backbone, e.g., Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE). LLDPE made using the linear alpha-olefins 1-butene, 1-hexene and 1-octene account for the majority of the polyethylene resin market. Generally, companies interested in polyethylene purchase butene, hexene, and octene for their polyethylene reactors. Butene, hexene and octene are produced in separate reactors that typically produce a range of even numbered alpha-olefins from ethylene. These materials can be expensive to purchase, and they add complexity to shipping, storage, and handling. An attractive alternative is to make these linear alpha-olefins directly from ethylene at the site where ethylene is formed and to be used for subsequent polymerization, if this can be done cleanly and economically.

Nevertheless, conventional trains configured to form linear alpha olefins may experience polymer fouling of by-products (e.g., polyethylene) formed during the linear alpha olefin formation process, which causes a need for plant train shutdowns to clean the plant train through fouled components. In addition, the set of equipment for producing linear alpha-olefins is energy intensive.

There remains a need for improved trains of equipment for producing linear alpha olefins and methods for producing linear alpha olefins to produce linear alpha olefins more efficiently. More specifically, there remains a need to control and/or mitigate polymer fouling in linear alpha olefin trains. Such fouling reduction would provide benefits including, but not limited to: reduced/eliminated process downtime, more efficient and/or cost-effective production of desired linear alpha-olefins, reduced oligomerization byproducts (e.g., branched alpha-olefins), and/or reduced/minimized inefficiencies in plant set energy consumption/throughput.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a process and a set of equipment for producing linear alpha-olefins.

In one or more embodiments, the method of the present disclosure comprises the steps of: (a) providing a feed comprising an olefin, a catalyst and a process solvent to a reaction zone comprising at least one reactor under oligomerization conditions to obtain a reactor effluent produced in the at least one reactor; (b) contacting at least a portion of the reactor effluent with a quenching agent to obtain a quenched effluent; (c) separating at least a portion of the quenched effluent to obtain a vapor effluent and a liquid effluent; (d) separating at least a portion of the liquid effluent to obtain at least one aqueous phase rich in catalyst and quencher and an organic phase lean in catalyst and quencher; and (e) separating at least a portion of the organic phase to obtain a stream enriched in one or more linear alpha-olefins.

In one or more embodiments, the set of devices of the present disclosure comprises: a reaction zone comprising at least one reactor having one or more inlets configured to receive an olefin, a catalyst, and a process solvent; a first effluent line coupled to the reactor at a first end of the first effluent line and coupled to a flash drum at a second end of the first effluent line, the first effluent line having at least one inlet configured to receive a quenching agent, wherein the flash drum is configured to produce a vapor effluent and a liquid effluent; and at least one distillation column in fluid communication with the flash drum, wherein the at least one distillation column is configured to receive at least a portion of the liquid effluent and produce a stream enriched in one or more linear alpha-olefins.