Process for the hydrogenation of hydrocarbon resins with metallic nickel

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING A THERMALLY POLYMERIZED RESIN, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES PYROLYZING NORMALLY GASEOUS HYDROCARBONS AT TEMPERATURES IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 1200-1800* F. AND PRESSURES BETWEEN ABOUT ATMOSPHERIC AND 100 P.S.I.A., SEPARATING BY DISTILLATION OF THE PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS A DISTILLATE FRACTION BOILING WITHIN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 200-400* F. AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE, THERMALLY POLYMERIZING IN THE ABSENCE OF INTERMEDIATE HEAT SOAKING SAID FRACTION AT TEMPERATURES IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 400-500* F. FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT 5 TO 50 HOURS, WHEREBY THERE IS OBTAINED AN AROMATICS-RICH HIGHLY UNSATURATED THERMOPLASTIC RESIN, CONTACTING IN THE LIQUID PHASE SAID RESIN DISSOLVED IN A HYDROCARBON SOLVENT BOILING IN THE NAPHTHA BOILING RANGE AT TEMPERATURES IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 250-750*F. PRESSURES IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 500-100 P.S.I.G. AND A VOLUMETRIC SPACE VELOCITIES IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 1 TO 4 WITH HYDROGEN AND A HYDROGENATION CATALYST COMPRISING ESSENTIALLY METALLIC NICKEL DISTRIBUTED ON A SOLID POROUS SUPPORT, AND SEPARATING THE HYDROGENATED RESIN FROM SAID SOLVENT, SAID HYDROGENATED RESIN BEING CHARACTERIZED BY HAVING IMPROVED COLOR AND STABILITY AGAINST DISCOLORATION UPON AGING.