Patent ID: 8197674
Filing Date: 2012-06-12
Classification: B01J,C07C,C10G,C10L

Abstract:
1. A process comprising: (a) feeding to a reactor a gas phase mixture comprising C 2 -C 4 hydrocarbons and 20-1000 ppm mercaptans, wherein the reactor comprises a catalyst which is capable of catalyzing the thioetherification of mercaptans to thioethers by reacting mercaptans with C 2 hydrocarbons and C 3 hydrocarbons in a gas phase at a pressure in the range of 100 psig to 250 psig, producing a reactor product mixture, the catalyst containing greater than 200 ppm of palladium, and a molar ratio of palladium to silver in the range of 0.1 to 10; (b) feeding the reactor product mixture to a distillation unit comprising an upper section and a lower section; (c) separating lower boiling point hydrocarbons from the thioethers wherein the lower boiling point hydrocarbons are substantially contained in the upper section and the thioethers are substantially contained in the lower section; and (d) recovering the lower boiling point hydrocarbons from the upper section in an overhead stream containing less than 5 ppm mercaptans.