Copper adsorbent for acetylene converter guard bed

Abstract

Copper sorbents which are resistant to the reduction by hydrogen are used as a guard bed for an acetylene conversion zone. The adsorbents include cuprous oxide, cupric oxide, copper metal, and a halide and are pre-reduced prior to be loaded into the guard bed. The sorbents can remove contaminants that would poison selective hydrogenation catalysts used for a selectively hydrogenating acetylenic compounds in an olefin stream. The sorbents may also selectively hydrogenate the acetylenic compounds.

Description

[0001] priority statement [0002] This application claims priority to US Application No. 62 / 253412, filed November 10, 2015, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. technical field [0003] The present invention relates generally to alkyne converters, more specifically to guard beds for alkyne converters, and even more particularly to novel sorbents configured to remove contaminants from alkyne converter feed streams. Background technique [0004] Olefins, including ethylene and propylene, can be converted on a large scale into a variety of intermediates and end products, such as polymeric materials. Commercial production of olefins is primarily accomplished by thermal cracking of hydrocarbons. Unfortunately, due to the very high temperatures involved, these commercial olefin production processes also produce significant amounts of undesired acetylenic (alkyne) impurities, such as acetylene, methylacetylene, and C4 alkynes, which conta...

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Problems solved by technology

However, lead oxide has disadvantages due to its harmful environmental impact and its low efficiency for pollutant removal

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