Patent ID: 8519208

Claim:
A process for synthesizing ethylbenzene from ethanol and benzene, comprising: 1) reacting a first mixture comprising ethanol and benzene at a molar ratio ranging from about 2:1 to about 8:1 with at least one binder-containing alkylation catalyst in an alkylation reactor to obtain a second mixture comprising benzene, ethylbenzene, diethylbenzene, and water; 2) passing the second mixture successively through a benzene recovery tower, an ethylbenzene recovery tower, and a polyethylbenzene recovery tower to obtain separated water, separated benzene, separated ethylbenzene, and separated diethylbenzene; and 3) reacting a third mixture with at least one transalkylation catalyst in a transalkylation reactor, wherein the third mixture comprises at least some of the separated benzene and at least some of the separated diethylbenzene at a weight ratio ranging from about 2:1 to about 10:1, wherein the at least one binder-containing alkylation catalyst comprises: a) at least one ZSM-5 molecular sieve present in an amount ranging from about 40% to about 90% by weight relative to the total weight of the at least one binder-containing alkylation catalyst, wherein the at least one ZSM-5 molecular sieve comprises: silica (SiO 2 ) and alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) at a molar ratio (SiO 2 :Al 2 O 3 ) ranging from about 30:1 to about 400:1, and at least one crystalline particle with a diameter ranging from about 5 nm to about 350 nm; b) at least one rare earth metal oxide present in an amount ranging from about 0.1% to about 10% by weight relative to the total weight of the at least one binder-containing alkylation catalyst; and c) at least one binder chosen from alumina and silica present in an amount ranging from about 9% to about 59% by weight relative to the total weight of the at least one binder-containing alkylation catalyst; wherein the at least one binder-containing alkylation catalyst has been treated: (i) with steam under atmospheric pressure and at a temperature ranging from about 400° C. to about 800° C. for a period of time ranging from about 1 hour to about 20 hours; and (ii) with a phosphoric acid solution at a concentration ranging from about 0.05 mol/l to about 15.0 mol/l and at a temperature ranging from about 5° C. to about 95° C. for a period of time ranging from about 1 hour to about 20 hours, and wherein the weight ratio of the phosphoric acid solution to the at least one binder-containing catalyst ranges from about 1:1 to about 20:1.