Patent ID: 7189887

Claim:
A process for the removal of naphthalene from mixtures comprising naphthalene and alkylbenzenes comprising the steps of: (a) feeding a stream containing naphthalene and alkylbenzenes to a distillation column reactor containing a bed of transalkylation catalyst; (b) concurrently in said distillation column reactor, (i) contacting the naphthalene with the alkylbenzenes in the presence of the transalkylation catalyst under conditions of pressure, temperature, and reflux rate to trap the naphthalene within the bed of transalkylation catalyst to transalkylate a portion of the naphthalene to form a reaction mixture containing alkyl naphthalene, alkyl benzenes and unreacted naphthalene, and (ii) separating the unreacted alkylbenzenes from the unreacted naphthalene and alkyl naphthalene by fractional distillation; whereby (c) alkylbenzenes are withdrawn from said distillation column reactor as overheads; and (d) alkylnaphthalenes are withdrawn from said distillation column reactor as bottoms.