Patent ID: 8519194

Claim:
A process for producing cyclohexylbenzene, the process comprising: (a) feeding benzene and hydrogen to at least one reaction zone comprising a catalyst system, said catalyst system comprising a MCM-22 family molecular sieve and at least one hydrogenation metal, said MCM-22 family molecular sieve having an X-ray diffraction pattern including d-spacing maxima at 12.4±0.25, 6.9±0.15, 3.57±0.07 and 3.42±0.07 Angstrom; (b) adjusting hydroalkylation conditions for said at least one reaction zone to produce a hydroalkylation conversion in a range of from about 15% to about 75% wherein said hydroalkylation conditions include a hydroalkylation temperature within the range of from about 125° C. to about 175° C. and a hydroalkylation pressure within the range of from about 125 psig (862 kPag) to about 175 psig (1227 kPag), such that the selectivity to cyclohexylbenzene is in a range from about 45% to about 85%; and (c) contacting said benzene and said hydrogen in said reaction zone wherein the ratio of the total number of moles of hydrogen fed to the at least one reaction zone to the total number of moles of benzene fed to the at least one reaction zone is from about 0.45 to about 0.95.