Alkylation of aromatics with ethylene and propylene: recent developments in commercial processes

This paper provides an overview of current industrial alkylation processes for the production of ethylbenzene and cumene. In recent years, zeolite catalysts have begun to displace the conventional aluminum chloride and solid phosphoric acid (SPA) Friedel-Crafts catalysts used in both ethylbenzene and cumene processes. This transformation has been particularly rapid in the case of cumene technology, where more than 50% of the worldwide cumene capacity has converted to zeolite catalysts in the last 5 years. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.