Patent ID: 7335802

Claim:
A method for the production of alphatic alcohols, comprising: introducing a Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon stream comprising olefins and paraffins, said Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon stream containing from 5 to 80 percent olefins having an average carbon number of from 10 to 17, into a dehydrogenation-isomerization unit, wherein the dehydrogenation-isomerization unit is configured to dehydrogenate at least a portion of the paraffins in the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon stream to olefins, and wherein the dehydrogenation-isomerization unit is further configured to isomerize at least a portion of linear olefins to branched olefins in the presence of a dehydrogenation-isomerization catalyst comprising a hydrogen form of a zeolite having a ferrierite isotypic framework structure, and wherein the residence time is such that the conversion of paraffins to olefins is below 40 mole percent, and wherein at least a portion of the unreacted components of the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon stream and at least a portion of the products of the dehydrogenation and isomerization reactions form a second hydrocarbon stream, the second hydrocarbon stream comprising olefins and paraffins, and wherein at least a portion of the olefins in the second hydrocarbon stream is branched olefins; and introducing at least a portion of the second hydrocarbon stream into a hydroformylation unit, wherein the hydroformylation unit is configured to hydroformylate at least a portion of the olefins in the second hydrocarbon stream to produce aliphatic alcohols having an average carbon number of from 11 to 18, and wherein at least a portion of the produced aliphatic alcohols comprises a branched alkyl group.