Technology

Process Summary

Hydrodealkylation is a Chemical Reaction that often involves reacting an Aromatic Hydrocarbon, such as Toluene, in the presence of Hydrogen Gas to form a simpler Aromatic Hydrocarbon devoid of Functional Groups. An example is the conversion of 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene to Xylene. This Chemical Process usually occurs at high temperature, at high pressure, or in the presence of a catalyst. These are predominantly Transition Metals, such as Chromium or Molybdenum^[1].

In case of Toluene dealkylation into Benzene, reactions taking place are depicted in Fig. 1^[2].

Figure 1 - Hydrodealkylation of Toluene into Benzene

References

1. Wikipedia, Hydrodealkylation
2. DWSIM, Sanagapalli Ventaka Karthik, 1st Jul 2018, Hydrodealkylation for Toluene, DWSIM