Enichem S.p.a

Enichem Synthesis S.p.a

Giancarlo Paret

Renato Paludetto

Gianni Donati

Maurizio Ghirardini

The reaction between methanol, carbon monoxide and oxygen for preparing dimethyl carbonate, in the presence of cuprous chloride as the catalyst, is carried out in a special reactor constituted by two parallel, vertical tubes, at the base of one of which the fresh gas and the recycle gas are fed; the reaction products are separated by partially condensing the recirculate vapors.

Process for producing dimethyl carbonate and apparatus suitable for such

A processing cycle for separating C.sub.8 aromatics (mixtures of ortho-, para-, meta-xylene and ethylbenzene) is disclosed, in which a first subdivision of the mixture is preformed into two streams respectively comprising: para-xylene and ethylbenzene as the first stream; and meta- and ortho-xylene as the second stream followed by a separation of the first stream by rectification, during which ethylbenzene within specifications is obtained as the overhead fraction, with the second stream also being sent to a separation by rectification, with ortho-xylene within specifications being obtained as the bottom fraction. The possible content of C.sub.9 species can be furthermore removed by subsequent distillation.

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San Donato Milanese, Italy

Giancarlo Paret