| abstract |
Acetylene is prepd. by high-temp. hydrocarbon pyrolysis, using a quench oil made by the following new method. Hydrocarbon oils contg. or yielding high-boiling polynuclear aromatic cpds., pref. the aromatics-rich byproduct oils from ethylene steam crackers, are fed to a moving bed of coke, pref. indirectly heated, at a temp. of at least 400 deg.C, and pref. above 550 deg.C. The quench oil prod. may be taken as a distillate, and byproduct coke remains in the bed. The quench oil should contain at least 10 wt.%, pref. at least 15 wt.% of polynuclear aromatics of b.pt. 180-400 deg.C. A side stream of the circulating quench oil from the acetylene plant may be returned to the coke bed for removal of soot. Feedstock oils for the quench oil are cheap, frequently waste, prods., in more abundant supply than naphthalene (an alternative quench oil). The coke produced as byproduct is of good quality (purity greater than 96%, low in ash, and of useful granularity). |