Combined ether and alkylate production

Claim 1

In a combination process of ether production and alkylate production comprising (a) reacting an olefin and an alcohol to form a first reaction mixture comprising ether, alcohol and olefin, (b) recovering ether from said first reaction mixture as a first product of the combination process, (c) accumulating a liquid in a vessel and thereafter using said liquid in the reaction step (a), (d) separating an olefin containing stream from said first reaction mixture, (e) reacting at least a portion of said olefin containing stream with isoparaffin and in the presence of an HF alkylation catalyst under HF alkylation conditions to form a second reaction mixture comprising alkylate, (f) recoverying alkylate from said second reaction mixture as a further product of the process as the bottom stream from a fractionation zone in which at least a portion of the organic phase of said second reaction mixture is fractionated and which fractionation zone is provided with an overhead accumulator in which cooled condensed overhead effluent from said fractionation zone is accumulated, the improvement comprising pressurizing said vessel for liquid accumulation with a pressurizing material in gaseous form, which material is essentially free of air, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, methane, ethane, and ethylene, which material is compatible with the HF alkylation reaction and with the ether forming reaction and which pressurizing material has a boiling point above the operating temperature of said overhead accumulator at its operating pressure and which pressurizing material has a boiling point below the operating temperature of said vessel at its operating pressure, and which material is a non-aromatic hydrocarbon having at least three carbon atoms, or with a mixture of such pressurizing materials.