Abstract:
A reactant selected from the group consisting of alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics is reacted with a metal halide to form the halide of the reactant and reduced metal. The reduced metal is oxidized to form metal oxide. The metal oxide is reacted with the halide of the reactant to produce the alcohol and/or the ether corresponding to the reactant and the original metal halide which is recycled.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of prior application Ser. No. 10/208,068, filed Jul. 29, 2002, currently pending, which is a continuation-in-part of prior application Ser. No. 10/054,004 filed Jan. 24, 2002, currently pending which is a continuation-in-part of prior application Ser. No. 09/951,739, filed Sep. 11, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,696, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/886,078 filed Jun. 20, 2001, currently pending. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to synthesizing alcohols and ethers from alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics, and more particularly to a process wherein a reactant is reacted with a metal halide to form the halide of the reactant and reduced metal, wherein the reduced metal is oxidized to form metal oxide, and wherein the resulting metal oxide is reacted with the halide of the reactant to form the corresponding alcohol and/or ether.  
         BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/208,068 filed Jun. 29, 2002, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein. The co-pending application discloses a process for converting ethane to diethyl ether, ethanol and ethyl acetate wherein ethane reacts with a halogen selected from the group including chlorine, bromine, and iodine. For example, ethane is reacted with bromine to form bromoethane and HBr. The bromoethane then reacts with metal oxide to form diethyl ether, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and metal bromide. The metal bromide reacts with oxygen or air to regenerate the original metal oxide. In the process, bromine and metal oxide are recycled.  
           [0004]    The present invention comprises the method and apparatus for converting alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics to alcohols and/or ethers which differs substantially from the above described process. In accordance with the broader aspects of the invention, a reactant comprising an alkane, an alkene, and/or an aromatic is reacted with a metal halide to produce the halide of the reactant and reduced metal. The reduced metal is oxidized with air or oxygen to form the corresponding metal oxide. The metal oxide is reacted with the halide of the reactant to form the alcohol and/or the ether corresponding to the original alkane, alkene, or aromatic and the original metal halide which is recycled.  
           [0005]    In accordance with a specific embodiment of the invention, ethane is reacted with metal bromide to form ethyl bromide and reduced metal. The reduced metal is reacted with oxygen and/or air to form the corresponding metal oxide. The metal oxide is reacted with the ethyl bromide to form ethanol and/or diethyl ether and metal bromide which is recycled.  
           [0006]    In accordance with a particular aspect of the invention, steam is introduced into the ethyl bromide/metal oxide reaction to drive the reaction toward the production of ethanol. Alternatively, water can be removed from ethyl bromide/metal oxide reaction to drive the reaction toward the production of diethyl ether.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    A more complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following Detailed Description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein:  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a second embodiment of the invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a third embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a fourth embodiment of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]    Referring now to the Drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a method and apparatus  10  for synthesizing alcohols and/or ethers comprising a first embodiment of the invention. The method and apparatus  10 , as well as the other embodiments of the invention hereinafter described, can be used to synthesize alcohols and ethers from alkanes, alkenes, and/or aromatics. The following description wherein alcohols and/or ethers are synthesized from alkenes is representative.  
         [0013]    A selected alkane, which may comprise methane, ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, hexane, cyclohexane, etc., is received in a first reactor  12  from a suitable source  14  through a line  16 . The reactor  12  also receives a metal halide through a line  18 . The halide comprising the metal halide that is received in the reactor  12  is selected from the group including chlorine, bromine, and iodine.  
         [0014]    The reaction of the alkane with the metal halide produces the corresponding alkyl halide which is recovered through a line  20 . The reaction also produces metal in reduced form, such as a metal hydride, which is recovered through a line  22  and directed to a second reactor  24 . The second reactor  24  also receives oxygen and/or air from a source  26  through a line  28 .  
         [0015]    The second reactor  24  functions to convert the reduced metal received through the line  22  to metal oxide which is recovered through a line  30  and directed to a third reactor  32 . The temperature of the reaction within the second reactor  24  is low enough that any bromine remaining on the metal following the reaction in the first reactor  12  remains on the metal, and only the hydrogen on the metal is replaced with oxygen. The hydrogen liberated from the metal is converted to water.  
         [0016]    Within the third reactor  32  the alkyl halide formed in the first reactor  12  reacts with the metal oxide formed in the second reactor  24  to form the corresponding alcohol and/or ether which is recovered through an outlet  34 . The reaction in the third reactor  32  also produces metal halide which is recycled to the first reactor  12  through the line  18 .  
         [0017]    In accordance with a specific application of the invention, the first reactor  12  receives ethane from the source  14  through the line  16 , and the metal halide received in the reactor  12  through the line  18  comprises metal bromide. The reaction within the reactor  12  produces ethyl bromide which is recovered through the line  20  and directed to the third reactor  32 . The reaction within the third reactor  32  may be characterized as follows:  
         4CH3CH2Br+Metal Oxide+XH2O→2CH3CH2OH+CH3CH2OCH2CH3+Metal Bromide2  
         [0018]    As will therefore be apparent, the reaction within the reactor  32  can be biased toward the production of alcohol or toward the production of ether depending upon the amount of water present within the reactor. FIG. 1 further illustrates an operational mode of the first embodiment of the invention whereby steam is directed into the line  20  through a line  36  and enters the reactor  32  with the ethyl bromide and the HBr that were produced in the reactor  12 . As will be apparent from the formula set forth above, the introduction of steam into the reactor  32  causes the reaction therein to be selective toward the production of ethanol in the reactor  32  as opposed to the production of diethyl ether.  
         [0019]    Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a method of and apparatus for producing alcohols and/or ethers from alkanes, alkenes, or aromatics comprising a second embodiment of the invention. Many of the components parts of the second embodiments of the invention are identical in construction and function to component parts of the first embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1 and described hereinabove in conjunction therewith. Such identical component parts are designated in FIG. 2 with the same reference numerals utilized in the description of the first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0020]    The second embodiment of the invention differs from the first embodiment of the invention in that rather than being directed into the reactor  32  through the line  20 , steam is injected directly into the reactor  32  through lines  42 . This allows the steam to be added to the reactor  32  at specific points in the reactor thereby increasing the selectivity of the reaction that takes place therein towards the production of alcohol and away from the production of ether.  
         [0021]    A method and apparatus  50  for producing alcohols and/or ethers from alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics comprising a third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. Many of the component parts of the third embodiment of the invention are identical in construction and function to component parts of the first embodiment of the invention which are illustrated in FIG. 1 and described hereinabove in conjunction therewith. Such identical component parts are designed in FIG. 3 with the same reference numerals utilized in the description of the first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0022]    The third embodiment of the invention differs from the first and second embodiments in that during the operation thereof water is removed from the reactor  32  through lines  52 . The removal of water from the reactor  32  is accomplished by either distillation or by osmosis or by both. As will be apparent from the reaction set forth above, the removal of water from the reaction  32  causes the reaction that takes place therein to be selective toward the production of ether as opposed to the production of alcohol.  
         [0023]    Referring now to FIG. 4,there is shown a method and apparatus  60  for producing alcohols and/or ethers from alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics comprising a fourth embodiment of the invention. Many of the component parts of the fourth embodiment of the invention are identical in construction and function to components of the first embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1 and described hereinabove in conjunction therewith. Such identical components are designated in FIG. 4 with the same reference numerals utilized in the description of the first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0024]    In accordance with the fourth embodiment of the invention, oxygen and/or air is directed into the second reactor  24  at a rate such that in addition to oxidizing the reduced metal back to metal oxide, additional oxygen is added to the metal oxide and molecular halide is liberated. The reaction products from the second reactor  34  are directed to a separator  62 . The separator  62  directs metal oxide to the reactor  32  through a line  64 , returns oxygen to the source  26  through a line  66  and directs halide to a halide storage tank  68  through a line  70 . From the storage tank  68 , the halide is directed to the reactor  12  through a line  72  and the line  18  thereby assuring an optimum level of halide within the reactor  12  at all times.  
         [0025]    Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions of parts and elements without departing from the spirit of the invention.