Catalytic hydrocracking with a mixture of metal halide and anhydrous protonic acid

Claim 2

A PROCESS FOR HYDROCRACKING A FEEDSTOCK COMPRISING GAS OILS, RESIDUAL OILS, STOCKS OR MIXTURE THEREOF WHICH COMPRISES,

Claim 3

CONTAINING SAID FEEDSTOCK IN TH PRESENCE OF HYDROGEN UNDER HYDROCRACKING CONDITIONS TO EFFECT BOTH HYDROGENATION AND CRACKING WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY LIQUID PHASE CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF (A) A METAL HALIDE WHEREIN SAID METAL IS ALUMINUM GALLIUM, TIN, LEAD, VANADIUM, NIOBIUM, TANTALUM, ARSENIC, CHROMIUM, MOLYBEDENUM, TUNGSTEN, RATE EARTH AND/OR TRANSURANIUM METAL AND SAID HALIDE IS FLUORIDE, CHLORIDE, BROMIDE AND/OR IODIDE, AND (B) AT LEAST AN EQUAL MOLAR AMOUNT, BASED ON METAL HALIDE, OF A PROTOMIC ACID CAPABLE OF BEING PROTON DONOR TO THE SYSTEM AND FURTHER BEING CHARACTERIZED BT THE FORMULA HX, RAXBQOC OR MIXTURES THEREOF WHERE H IS HYDROGEN, X IS CHLORINE, BROMINE, FLOURINE AND/OR IODINE, R IS HYDROGEN, C1-C4 ALKYL, C3-C10 CYCLOALKYL AND/OR C6-C10 ARYL, Q IS EITHER PHOSPHORUS OR SULFUR, O IS OXYGEN, A IS AN INTEGER RANGING FROM 1 TO 4 AND B AND C INTEGERS RANGING FROM 0 TO 6, AND 2, RECOVERING A PRODUCT HAVING AN AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT LOWER THAN THE AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF THE FEEDSTOCK.

Claim 4

CONTAINING SAID FEEDSTOCK IN TH PRESENCE OF HYDROGEN UNDER HYDROCRACKING CONDITIONS TO EFFECT BOTH HYDROGENATION AND CRACKING WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY LIQUID PHASE CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF (A) A METAL HALIDE WHEREIN SAID METAL IS ALUMINUM GALLIUM, TIN, LEAD, VANADIUM, NIOBIUM, TANTALUM, ARSENIC, CHROMIUM, MOLYBEDENUM, TUNGSTEN, RATE EARTH AND/OR TRANSURANIUM METAL AND SAID HALIDE IS FLUORIDE, CHLORIDE, BROMIDE AND/OR IODIDE, AND (B) AT LEAST AN EQUAL MOLAR AMOUNT, BASED ON METAL HALIDE, OF A PROTOMIC ACID CAPABLE OF BEING PROTON DONOR TO THE SYSTEM AND FURTHER BEING CHARACTERIZED BT THE FORMULA HX, RAXBQOC OR MIXTURES THEREOF WHERE H IS HYDROGEN, X IS CHLORINE, BROMINE, FLOURINE AND/OR IODINE, R IS HYDROGEN, C1-C4 ALKYL, C3-C10 CYCLOALKYL AND/OR C6-C10 ARYL, Q IS EITHER PHOSPHORUS OR SULFUR, O IS OXYGEN, A IS AN INTEGER RANGING FROM 1 TO 4 AND B AND C INTEGERS RANGING FROM 0 TO 6, AND 2, RECOVERING A PRODUCT HAVING AN AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT LOWER THAN THE AVERAGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF THE FEEDSTOCK.

Claim 5

recovering a product having an average molecular weight lower than the average molecular weight of the feedstock.

Claim 6

recovering a product having an average molecular weight lower than the average molecular weight of the feedstock.

Claim 7

The process of claim 1 wherein said protonic acid is anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, hydrogen chloride or mixtures thereof.

Claim 8

The process of claim 2 wherein the molar ratio of hydrogen halide to metal halide present is at least 2:1.

Claim 9

The process of claim 3 wherein the temperature is within the range between about 20* and 200*C.

Claim 10

The process of claim 4 wherein said metal halide is a metal fluoride and said hydrogen halide is hydrogen fluoride.

Claim 11

The process of claim 5 wherein said metal fluoride is tantalum pentafluoride, niobium pentafluoride or mixtures thereof.

Claim 12

The process of claim 1 wherein said catalyst is comprised of

Claim 13

The process of claim 7 wherein the molar ratio of hydrogen fluoride to tantalum pentafluoride present is at least 5:1.

Claim 14

The process of claim 1 wherein said catalyst is comprised of

Claim 15

The process of claim 9 wherein the molar ratio of hydrogen fluoride to niobium pentafluoride is at least 5:1.

Claim 16

The process of claim 2 wherein said metal halide is dissolved in said protonic acid.

Claim 17

The process of claim 11 wherein said feedstock additionally contains sulfur impurities and the metal halide is present in the reaction zone in a molar excess relative to the amount of sulfur present in said feedstock.

Claim 18

The process of claim 1 wherein the process is effected at temperatures ranging from 20* to 200*C.

Claim 19

A process for hydrocracking a feedstock comprising gas oils, residual oils, cycle stocks, and mixtures thereof which comprises:

Claim 20

A process for hydrocracking a feedstock comprising gas oils, residual oils, cycle stocks, and mixtures thereof which comprises:

Claim 21

The process of claim 14 wherein the feedstock additionally contains sulfur impurities and the metal halide is present in the reaction zone in a molar excess relative to the amount of sulfur present in said feedstock.

Claim 22

The process of claim 15 wherein the halide of the metal halide is a fluoride.

Claim 23

The process of claim 14 wherein the process is effected at temperatures ranging from 20* to 200*C.

Claim 24

The process of claim 14 wherein the molar ratio of hydrogen halide to metal halide is at least 2:1.