Patent ID: 7750198

Claim:
A continuous process for removing aromatic by-products from a feedstock containing an aliphatic mono-olefin having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms per molecule, an aliphatic paraffin having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms per molecule and aromatic by-products having from 7 to 22 carbon atoms per molecule and alkylating benzene with the aliphatic mono-olefin having aromatic by-products removed therefrom comprising: a) selectively removing at least a portion of the aromatic by-products from the feedstock by at least intermittently passing at least a portion of the feedstock to an on-stream zone containing sorbent at conditions effective to selectively sorb aromatic by-products on the sorbent and to produce a sorption effluent stream comprising the mono-olefin and the paraffin and having a reduced concentration of aromatic by-products; b) regenerating sorbent in an off-stream zone containing sorbent, the sorbent in the off-stream zone having aromatic by-products sorbed thereon from having been on-stream in step a, said regeneration comprising at least intermittently passing a regenerant comprising benzene to the off-stream zone to desorb aromatic by-products from the sorbent and produce a regeneration effluent comprising benzene and aromatic by-products; c) distilling in a regeneration effluent distillation system at least a portion of the regeneration effluent to provide a vapor phase overhead containing benzene and a liquid phase including a higher-boiling fraction containing desorbed aromatic by-products; d) subjecting at least intermittently at least a portion of the higher-boiling fraction to benzene-forming conditions to convert aromatic by-products to benzene and provide a conversion effluent containing benzene; e) distilling in the regeneration effluent distillation system at least a portion of the conversion effluent, wherein steps c, d and e comprise a flow cycle loop; f) at least intermittently withdrawing purge from at least one point in the flow cycle loop in an amount sufficient to avoid undue buildup of aromatic by-products in the flow cycle loop; g) reacting mono-olefin contained in the sorption effluent stream with a stoichiometric excess of benzene under alkylation conditions to provide an alkylation reaction effluent containing an alkylbenzene, the paraffin, benzene and heavies; h) separating by distillation benzene from at least a portion of the alkylation reaction effluent to provide a benzene overhead and a first liquid stream containing the paraffin, the alkylbenzene and heavies; i) separating by distillation the paraffin from at least a portion of the first liquid stream to provide a paraffin overhead and a second liquid stream containing the alkylbenzene and heavies; and j) separating by distillation the alkylbenzene from at least a portion of the second liquid stream to provide an alkylbenzene overhead and a third liquid stream containing heavies; and k) passing at least a portion of the heavies in the third liquid stream to the flow cycle loop of steps c, d and e.