Patent ID: 8461408

Claim:
A method for alkylating a hydrocarbon comprising at least one isoparaffin and at least one olefin, the method comprising: introducing a liquid catalyst selected from the group consisting of hydrofluoric acid, BF 3 , SbF 5 , and AlCl 3 , and combinations thereof and the hydrocarbon into a high shear device, wherein the high shear device comprises a rotor and a stator separated by a shear gap; processing the liquid catalyst and the hydrocarbon in the high shear device to form an emulsion comprising droplets of hydrocarbon dispersed in the liquid catalyst, wherein the droplets have a mean diameter in the range of about 0.1 μm to about 5 μm; introducing the emulsion into a vessel operating under suitable alkylation conditions whereby at least a portion of the isoparaffin is alkylated with the olefin to form alkylate, wherein suitable alkylation conditions comprise a bulk reaction temperature of from about 38° C. to about 90° C. and a bulk reaction pressure in the range of from about 1379 kPa to about 34 MPa; and removing a product stream comprising alkylate from the vessel.