Joseph A. Kocal

Production of linear alkylbenzenes

Linear alkylbenzene technology has almost completely replaced the older branched alkylbenzene technology for production of surfactants due to improved biodegradability and cost-effectiveness. The technology of choice today is dehydrogenation of n-paraffins to n-olefins followed by benzene alkylation to produce linear alkylbenzene. Solid acids catalyst-based systems are emerging to slowly replace hydrofluoric acid units in order to ensure environmental safety and improve economics. Numerous materials have been evaluated as solid acid catalysts for this alkylation process including zeolites, clays, various metal oxides, and supported aluminum chloride. At this time, only the UOP Detal technology has been commercialized. Because of ongoing fundamental studies on reaction mechanism and catalyst properties, significant progress is being made to improve the selectivity, catalytic stability, and long-term stability of these solid acids under commercial operating conditions.