Production of MTBE (Methyl tert-butyl ether)

Introduction

When oil is distilled, the fraction that can be used as petrol (the naphtha fraction) is made up mainly of
C4 to C10 straight chain alkanes, which have suitable volatility
These burn in a way that leads to explosion in the engine cylinders
One way to improve the performance of the petrol is to add compounds that contain oxygen & MTBE is
used for this purpose

Overall Production & Reaction Conditions

MTBE is manufactured from 2-methylpropene (isobutene) and methanol using an acid catalyst.
The catalyst is an anionic ion-exchange resin
The reaction is carried out at 340-360 K and 8 atm pressure, with methanol in excess. The unused
methanol is recovered and recycled.

Obtaining 2-methylpropene required for the reaction

2-methylpropene is obtained by cracking (breaking up of larger distillation oil fractions into smaller
ones) or by reforming (joining of smaller distillation oil fractions to make bigger ones).

2-methylpropene is obtained by dehydrogenation of 2-methylpropane. The vapour is passed over a

catalyst (platinum and palladium on an inert support)

Equipment Focus

Fresh C4 feed from the dehydrogenation unit, methanol (MeOH) and a recycle stream are combined and
sent through the two main reactors where over 90% of the conversion is achieved
The reactor effluent enters the column below the resin beds
Additional MeOH can be injected at the top of the column
In addition to separating MTBE from the C4 and MeOH overhead stream, the column allows any
remaining conversion reactions to continue in multiple catalyst beds located above the feed injection
point
The reaction beds consists of an anionic ion-exchange resin (acidified) that accelerates the rates of the
exothermic reactions
Reaction rates are also increased by higher temperatures but reaction favours lower temperatures hence
catalyst is used

Product Specification

98% MTBE