Isomerization of paraffin hydrocarbons

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR ISOMERIZATION OF A PARAFFIN HYDROCARBON SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF NORMAL PENTANE, NORMAL HEXANE, NORMAL HEPTANE, AND MIXTURES OF SAID HYDROCARBONS, WHICH COMPRISES CONTACTING THE SAME AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT 600* F. AND ABOUT 1000* F. AT A LIQUID HOURLY SPACE VELOCITY BETWEEN ABOUT 0.5 AND ABOUT 40 IN THE PRESENCE OF HYDROGEN UNDER A PRESSURE BETWEEN ABOUT 50 AND ABOUT 1000 P.S.I.G. AND A MOLAR RATIO OF HYDROGEN TO HYDROCARBON BETWEEN ABOUT 0.5 AND ABOUT 20 WITH A CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A MECHANICAL MIXTURE OF PARTICLES OF LESS THAN ABOUT 100 MICRONS IN A DIAMETER OF: (1) AN ALUMINA CARRIER HAVING DEPOSITED THEREON BETWEEN BETWEEN ABOUT 0.05 AND ABOUT 5 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF PLATINUM AND (2) A SILICIA -ALUMINA CRACKING COMPONENT HAVING A CRACKING ACTIVITY AS DETERMINED BY THE CAT-A METHOD OF BETWEEN ABOUT 20 AND ABOUT 50, THE RELATIVE WEIGHT FRACTIONS OF THE TWO COMPONENTS BEING BETWEEN ABOUT 0.1 AND ABOUT 0.9 AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAID COMPONENTS BEING SUCH THAT THE RESULTANT MIXTURE IS CHARACTERIZED BY A DEHYDROGENATION ACTIVITY OF BETWEEN ABOUT 20 AND ABOUT 2000, WHERE DEHYDROGENATION ACTIVITY REPRESENTS THE RATE OF FORMATION OF BENZENE IN UNITS OF 10-6 MOLS/SECOND PER GRAM OF CATALYST UPON PASSAGE OF CYCLOHEXANE OVER THE CATALYST AT A TEMPERATURE OF 750* F. AND A LIQUID HOURLY SPACE VELOCITY OF 5000, EMPLOYING A PRESSURE OF 350 P.S.I.G. AND HYDROGEN IN A MOLAR RATIO OF HYDROGEN TO HYDROCARBON OF 4:1.