Equistar Chemicals, LP

Lyondell Chemical Technology, L.p.

Steven T Coleman

Robert S Bridges

Donald H Powers

Gary A Sawyer

Lei Zhang

Vu Anh Dang

Edrick Morales

Jude T Ruszkay

Raghu Narayan

Allen David Hood, Jr

Michael G Axelrod

James H Walker

Shaotian Wang

Allen David Hood

A process for manufacturing methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE) including (A) an optional first step including cracking raw material made from or containing ethane and/or propane, to form ethylene and recovering the residual uncracked raw material, (B) a second step including dimerizing ethylene to form n-butylene, (C) a third step including isomerizing the n-butylene to form isobutylene, (D) an optional fourth step including oxidizing methane to form methanol, (E) a fifth step including etherifying the isobutylene with methanol to form methyl t-butyl ether, and (F) a sixth step including collecting the methyl t-butyl ether is provided. The process can also be used to prepare gasoline alkylate, a higher molecular weight ethylene oligomer, a higher-molecular-weight-ethylene-oligomer-based methyl ether, an isomerized higher molecular weight ethylene oligomer, or an isomerized-higher-molecular-weight-ethylene-oligomer-based methyl ether.

Process for manufacturing methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and other hydrocarbons

Propylene production processes are discussed herein. The propylene production processes may include contacting an olefin feed including butene with ethylene in the presence of a catalyst system including a metathesis catalyst under reaction conditions sufficient to form a product stream including propylene, wherein the metathesis catalyst includes molybdenum and the reaction conditions include a reaction temperature of less than 250&#xb0; C.

Propylene production processes and catalyst systems for use therein

Ethylene separation processes are described herein. The ethylene separation processes generally include introducing a feed stream including ethylene and butene into a de-ethenizer; and separating the ethylene from the butene via fractional distillation within the de-ethenizer to form an overhead stream including separated ethylene and a bottoms stream including separated butene, wherein the de-ethenizer operates at a pressure of less than 350 psig.

Ethylene separation process

Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods for producing aromatic products, the methods including separating a crude oil and condensate feed into at least a light naphtha stream, a heavy naphtha stream, and a bottoms stream, reforming at least a portion of the heavy naphtha stream to produce a reformate stream, feeding a cracker feed stream, comprising the light naphtha stream, the bottoms stream, and a reformate extraction raffinate, to an olefins cracker to produce cracker products comprising pyrolysis gasoline, and introducing an extractor feed stream comprising the pyrolysis gasoline and the reformate to an aromatic extraction unit to produce an aromatic product and the reformate extraction raffinate.

Aromatics production process

A hydrocarbon feed is passed to a first zone of a vaporization unit to separate a first vapor stream and a first liquid stream. The first liquid stream is passed to a second zone of the vaporization unit and contacted with a counter-current steam to produce a second vapor stream and a second liquid stream. The first vapor stream and the second vapor stream are cracked in the radiant section of the steam cracker to produce a cracked effluent. The second liquid stream is catalytically cracked to produce a cracked product. The cracked product is distilled to produce an overhead stream, a light cycle oil, and a heavy cycle oil. The light cycle oil is reacted with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to produce a hydrotreated light cycle oil. The hydrotreated light cycle oil and the overhead stream are fed to the vaporization unit.

Process for cracking heavy hydrocarbon feed

A process for producing propylene and 1-butene is disclosed. The process comprises dimerizing ethylene in the presence of a dimerization catalyst to produce a dimerization mixture comprising 1-butene and 2-butenes. The dimerization mixture is distilled to produce a 1-butene stream containing 1-butene and ethylene, a 2-butenes stream, and a heavy stream. The 2-butenes stream is reacted with ethylene in the presence of a metathesis catalyst to produce a metathesis mixture comprising propylene, ethylene, and 2-butenes. Propylene is separated from the metathesis mixture.

Production of 1-butene and propylene from ethylene

A process for cracking a heavy hydrocarbon feed is disclosed. The heavy hydrocarbon feed is passed to a first zone of a vaporization unit to separate a first vapor stream and a first liquid stream. The first liquid stream is passed to a second zone of the vaporization unit and contacted intimately with a countercurrent steam to produce a second vapor stream and a second liquid stream. The second vapor stream is contacted with a wash liquid in a rectification section to form a rectified stream. The first vapor stream and the rectified stream are cracked in the radiant section of the steam cracker to produce a cracked effluent.

An integrated method that comprises a hydrocarbon thermal cracking operation to form at least one olefin product, coupled with dimerization and metathesis operations, the dimerization operation forming additional feed material for the metathesis operation, and the metathesis operation forming additional amounts of olefin product.

Integrated cracking and metathesis process

A method for making propylene from alpha olefins, internal linear olefins and isoolefins wherein the alpha olefins are subjected to a combination of hydrogenation and double bond isomerization to form additional internal linear olefins, the internal linear olefins are disproportionated with ethylene to form a propylene product, while the isoolefins are subjected to skeletal isomerization to form yet additional internal linear olefins to be converted into yet additional propylene.

Propylene production

A method for thawing and removing frozen material from a cryogenic separation unit such as that found in an olefin production plant comprising employing a flushing agent to thaw and remove the frozen material, purging the flushing agent with a gas, and removing residual flushing agent with a solvent that is miscible with the flushing agent and has a freezing temperature substantially lower than the flushing agent.

Method of thawing a cryogenic unit

A method for forming high purity 1-butene wherein a feed composed of pentenes and hexenes is subjected to metathesis with ethylene to form a mixture containing propylene, 1-butene, 2-butenes, pentenes, and hexenes, and high purity 1-butene is separately recovered from the mixture by simple distillation.

1-butene production

A method for making propylene from alpha olefins, internal linear olefins and isoolefins wherein the alpha olefins are subjected to a combination of hydrogenation and double bond isomerization to form additional internal linear olefins, the internal linear olefins are separated from the isoolefins and disproportionated with ethylene to form a propylene product, while the thus separated isoolefins are subjected to skeletal isomerization to form yet additional internal linear olefins to be converted into yet additional propylene product.

Growing community of inventors

Humble, TX, United States of America

Steven T Coleman