Page 166 - Chemical and process design handbook

Speight_Part II_B 11/7/01 3:11 PM Page 2.107

N-BUTENE

n-Butylene (butene-1) is manufactured by the dimerization of ethylene
obtained from the catalytic and thermal cracking of hydrocarbons (Fig. 1).
2CH =CH → CH CH CH=CH
2 2 3 2 2
n-Butene thus produced is of suitably high purity to be used for various
polymerization and copolymerization processes.

Catalyst
preparation
and storage
n-butene
Ethylene recycle

Liquid phase reactor Distillation Fractionator
Ethylene

C 6 +
Catalyst Heavy ends and
removal spent catalyst

FIGURE 1 Manufacture of n-butene by dimerization of ethylene.

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