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Title: Isomerization: present status, working experience, turnover, capacity (in German)

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6823435

A short summary is presented of the isomerization process worked out by Leuna. The relatively few changes that had to be made in the process when it was scaled up from semi-technical scale to full production are mentioned. The greatest problems connected with this change involved measurement and regulation apparatus, leaks in apparatus, sublimation of catalyst and subsequent deposition downstream causing stopups, temperature adjustment near the entrance to the reaction oven, corrosion by water solutions of HCl, and adjustment of rate of supply of HCl gas. Regulator valves and measurement devices of several types had failed to work as they should and had been replaced either by other devices or by manual adjustment. In the semi-technical-scale operation, the sublimation of catalyst had been controlled by providing a free space at the top end of the reaction oven, in which the sublimated catalyst would react with olefins and be liquefied, thereby falling back into the reaction zone in the oven. However, in full-scale production, the free space had not been sufficiently large, and some sublimated catalyst had been carried by the gas stream into the condenser, where it precipitated out and clogged up the condenser. Experiments were still underway to find the best way to overcome the problem; some of these involved connecting the ovens in series instead of in parallel and changing the direction of flow in the ovens. Losses amounted to about 1.2% by weight for catalyst and 0.6% for HCl, calculated on the basis of the amounts of butane in the process.

Research Organization:
I.G. Farbenindustrie, A.G., Merseburg (Germany)
OSTI ID:
6823435
Report Number(s):
TOM-138-95-101
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
German