Sourcing Alkyl Benzene

Production or Purchasing

1 Background
Linear alkylbenzene refers to a group of organic compounds consisting of a benzene ring and a linear r group typically 10 16 carbons in length. Linear

alkylbenzene or LABs are an intermediate reacted with sulphur trioxide to produce surfactants for use in detergents. Figure 1 shows the general structure of LABs.

Figure 1. Linear alkylbenzene skeletal diagram.

2 Production Routes
The UOP Detal process is the most common commercial process for the production of linear alkyl benzene (LAB). The Detal-plus process is a new process similar to that of the Detal process but utilizing a transalkylation reaction to produce 5% more of the final product with only slightly more benzene feed needed. Heavy alkylate (benzene with two alkyl groups) is reacted with benzene to produce two molecules of LAB. Kerosene and benzene feeds are needed and the waste chemicals produced can be

Figure 2. Flow diagram of the Detal process.

seen in figure 2.

An intermediate paraffin species is produced through the Detal process. In order to avoid waste streams of hydrogen, light ends and aromatics an appropriate grade of nparaffin could be purchased and used in the alkylation reaction with benzene. The process for the production of n-paraffin requires a significant additional investment in equipment as can be seen in figure 3.

Figure 3. Production of n-paraffin from kerosene.

Using a paraffin feed (depending on the grade) the following steps are taken to produce LAB. The paraffin initially needs to be dehydrogenated to allow reaction with benzene to occur. The dehydrogenation of paraffin is an energy intensive

process requiring temperatures upwards of 500 C to achieve an appreciable conversion. The paraffin is then purified typically producing a waste stream of aromatics. The resulting product is reacted with benzene before being distilled to recover unreacted paraffin and benzene. The final purification process produces a stream of LAB and a stream of heavy alkylate that may be sold commercially to industries dealing with lubricating oils, heat transfer fluids and industrial detergents for example. HAB may be sold for approximately $1200 per metric tonne.

Paraffin of good purity can be purchased for $1500-$2000. This skips a number of stages but in comparison to the price of purchasing LAB this is expensive.

3 Purchasing
Linear alkyl benzene can typically be purchased for $1200-$1500 per metric tonne in 220 kg drums as a liquid. Price fluctuations can occur due to the varying price of kerosene, an essential feed for LAB production. However if LAB was manufactured from kerosene on site, the price fluctuations would be more direct. By purchasing LAB, some of this may be absorbed.

4 References
RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD. 2011. Linear Alkylbenzene [online]. [Accessed: 14th October 2013]. Available from: http://www.ril.com/downloads/pdf/LINEAR%20ALKYL%20BENZENE.pdf. http://www.ril.com/html/business/lab.html