Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc.

Isabell Prevost

Michel Molinier

Chunshe J Cao

Xiaobo Zheng

Jerome Pigourier

Kevin J Knob

Dennis J Stanley

Jacques Rault

Thierry Leflour

Stephane Claudel

Celia Fernandez

Terri S Vander Pol

In a process for producing para-xylene, at least one feed comprising Caromatic hydrocarbons is supplied to a dividing wall distillation column to separate the feed into a Caromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream, a Caromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream and a Caromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream. At least part of the Caromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream is then supplied to a para-xylene recovery unit to recover para-xylene from the Caromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream and produce a para-xylene depleted stream. The para-xylene depleted stream is contacted with a xylene isomerization catalyst in a xylene isomerization zone under conditions effective to isomerize xylenes in the para-xylene depleted stream and produce an isomerized stream, which is then at least partially recycled to the para-xylene recovery unit.

Aromatics production process

Growing community of inventors

Rueil Malmaison, France

Isabell Prevost