Dehydrogenation or dehydrocyclisation of non-aromatic hydrocarbons

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR THE TREATMENT OF NON-AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS TO PRODUCE A PRODUCT HAVING AN INCREASED AROMATIC CONTENT COMPRISING CONTACTING THE HYDROCARBON FEEDSTOCK IN A REACTION ZONE WITH A FRESHLY REGENERATED CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF 5 TO 25% CHROMIUM OXIDE AND BALANCE ALUMINA WITH UP TO ABOUT 10% BY WEIGHT OF THE CHROMIUM CONTENT OF SAID CATALYST BEING IN HEXAVALENT FORM AS CRO3, AT A TEMPERATURE OF FROM ABOUT 840* TO 1075*F., AT A PRESSURE NOT IN EXCESS OF ABOUT 50 P.S.I.GA., AND IN THE ABSENCE OF ADDED HYDROGEN TO SAID REACTION ZONE, SAID AMOUNT OF HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM OXIDE BEING REDUCED DURING SAID CONTACTING OPERATION TO THE TRIVALENT STATE AS CR2O3 WITH RELEASE OF OXYGEN AND EVOLUTION OF HEAT FROM COMBUSTION OF CARBONACEOUS CONSTITUENTS WITH THE RELEASED OXYGEN IN SAID REACTION ZONE, RECOVERING A PRODUCT HAVING AN INCREASED AROMATIC CONTENT, REGENERATING THE CATALYST, WHEN SPENT, IN A REGENERATION ZONE BY CONTACTING SAME AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 800* TO 1300*F. WITH AN OXYGEN MEDIUM FOR A PERIOD OF TIME BETWEEN 15 TO 100 MIN. TO BURN OFF SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE CARBONACEOUS DEPOSITS FORMED DURING SAID CONTACTING OPERATION, OXIDIZING SAID CATALYST TO EFFECT A CONVERION OF NO MORE THAN ABOUT 10% BY WEIGHT OF THE CHROMIUM CONTENT FROM ITS TRIVALENT STATE TO THE HEXAVALENT STATE, RE-USING THE THUS OXIDIZED REGNERATED CATALYST IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY FURTHER TREATMENT AS SAID FRESHLY REGENERATED CATALYST IN A FURTHER PROCESSING OPERATION OF THE FEEDSTOCK UNDER THE CONDITIONS ENUMERATED TO PRODUCE AN AROMATIC-ENRICHED PRODUCT.