Catalyst composition for selective hydrogenation with improved characteristics

1. A heterogeneous shell catalyst for selective hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons, the heterogeneous shell catalyst comprising:

(i) a porous solid substrate having an uncoated BET surface area of less than 9 m 2 /g and an integral pore volume of 0.007 to 0.04 ml/g;

(ii) a metal or metal-alloy shell comprising palladium included on the substrate having a thickness of 100 μm to 500 μm; and

(iii) 0.1% to 5% by weight of the heterogeneous shell catalyst of one or more ionic liquids deposited within a pore surface of the porous solid substrate having the integral pore volume in a quantity that is less than the integral pore volume to provide an ionic liquid shell that is between 10 μm thick and 2000 μm thick, wherein a total quantity of the one or more ionic liquids used is between 0.01% to 5% by weight of the heterogeneous shell catalyst,

wherein the one or more ionic liquids consist of one or more compounds of the formula:

[A] n + [Y] n − ,

wherein:

n=1 or 2;

[A] n + comprises an imidazolium cation of the formula (III)

wherein R, R 1 , and R 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and linear or branched C 1 -C 12 -alkyl groups, or [A] n + is selected from the group consisting of 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium, 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium, ethyldimethyl-(2-methoxyethyl)-ammonium, tributylmethylammonium, tricyclohexyltetradecylphosphonium, and mixtures thereof; and

wherein [Y] n − is selected from the group consisting of bis(trifluoromethylsufonyl)imide, dicyanamide, ethylsulfate, methylphosphonate, methylsulfate, octylsulfate, tetracyanoborate, tetrafluoroborate, tricyanomethane, triflate, tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, and mixtures thereof.

2. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein said BET surface area is within a range of 2 to 8 m 2 /g.

3. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the metal or metal alloy shell further comprises a promoter selected from the group consisting of Ag, Au, Zn, Sn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Bi, K, Ga, and mixtures thereof.

4. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 3 , wherein the promoter comprises Ag.

5. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 3 , having a ratio of palladium:promoter of 1:5 to 3:1.

6. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , having a palladium loading of 10 to 1000 ppm.

7. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein [A] + is selected from the group consisting of 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium, 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium, 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium, 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium, ethyldimethyl-(2-methoxyethyl)ammonium, tributylmethylammonium, tricyclohexyltetradecylphosphonium, and mixtures thereof.

8. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the ionic liquid comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate, 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium triflate, 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium triflate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethane, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octylsulfate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylphosphonate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsufonyl)imide, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tetracyanoborate, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsufonyl)imide, 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsufonyl)imide, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium triflate, ethyldimethyl-(2-methoxyethyl)ammonium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, tributylmethylammonium dicyanamide, tricyclohexyltetradecylphosphonium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsufonyl)imide, and mixtures thereof.

9. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , having an ionic liquid loading of 0.1% to 5% by weight.

10. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , further having a cleanup temperature of less than 80° C. and an operating window of greater than 25° C. when tested with a simulated de-ethanizer feed containing 0.35 mol % acetylene, 20 mol % hydrogen, 0.02 mol % CO, 45 mol % ethylene, and balance methane being passed over a 25 ml catalyst bed at 500 psig (35.5 bar) in total pressure and 7000 h −1 in Gas Hourly Space Velocity (GHSV), while the bed temperature is gradually increased from about 35° C., the “clean up temperature” is defined as the temperature at which the outlet reaches <25 ppm acetylene, the runaway temperature is defined as the temperature at which the outlet ethane concentration is >2% and the operation window is defined as the difference between the runaway temperature and the clean up temperature.

11. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the integral pore volume of the heterogeneous shell catalyst without the presence of said one or more ionic liquids is in the range of 0.009 to 0.02 ml/g.

12. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ionic liquids are deposited on the substrate in an eggshell distribution.

13. The heterogeneous shell catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ionic liquids are deposited such that a body of the heterogenous shell catalyst is externally dry.