US 12,187,692 B2
Process for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene
Andrey Karpov, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE); Marco Oskar Kennema, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE); Nicolas Duyckaerts, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE); Christian Walsdorff, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE); Christian Bartosch, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE); Juergen Zuehlke, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE); and Miguel Angel Romero Valle, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE)
Assigned to BASF SE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE)
Appl. No. 17/285,780
Filed by BASF SE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE)
PCT Filed Sep. 19, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/075188
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 15, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/078658, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 23, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 18200481 (EP), filed on Oct. 15, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0387958 A1, Dec. 16, 2021
Int. Cl. C07D 301/10 (2006.01); B01J 21/04 (2006.01); B01J 23/68 (2006.01); B01J 35/31 (2024.01); B01J 35/40 (2024.01); B01J 35/56 (2024.01); B01J 35/61 (2024.01); B01J 35/63 (2024.01); B01J 35/66 (2024.01)
CPC C07D 301/10 (2013.01) [B01J 21/04 (2013.01); B01J 23/688 (2013.01); B01J 35/31 (2024.01); B01J 35/40 (2024.01); B01J 35/56 (2024.01); B01J 35/612 (2024.01); B01J 35/633 (2024.01); B01J 35/695 (2024.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A process for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, comprising:
directing a feed comprising gaseous ethylene and gaseous oxygen through a packing of individual shaped catalyst bodies, under conditions conducive to obtain a reaction mixture containing at least 2.7 vol. % of ethylene oxide, comprising a catalyst temperature in the range of 150 to 350° C. and at a pressure in the range of 5 to 30 bar absolute;
wherein each shaped catalyst body comprises silver deposited on a refractory support and is characterized by
a content of at least 20 wt. % of silver, relative to the total weight of the shaped catalyst body;
a BET surface area in the range of 1.6 to 3.0 m2/g;
a first face side surface, a second face side surface and a circumferential surface with a plurality of passageways extending from the first face side surface to the second face side surface; and
a uniform multilobed cross-section; and
a longest direct diffusion pathway d, with 2d being in the range of 0.7 to 2.4 mm, wherein the longest diffusion pathway d is defined as the shortest distance from the geometric surface of the shaped catalyst body to a point inside the structure of the shaped catalyst body for which point the shortest distance is the largest among all points.