Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc.

Thomas J Waddick

John Roger Porter

John D Y Ou

John Joseph Monson

Albert F Seibert

A method for removing sulfolane from hydrocarbon streams by serial separation using raffinate wash column and at least one raffinate wash drum. The separation may be particularly useful in retrofitting existing separation facilities to produce motor fuels meeting the specifications requiring lower sulfolane content. A method is provided for the purification of a hydrocarbon-containing stream having a sulfolane therein. The method includes separating a first sulfolane-depleted stream from a hydrocarbon stream in a first counter-current separation unit and then separating a second sulfolane-depleted stream from the first sulfolane-depleted stream in a second counter-current separation unit. The first and second counter-current separation units are preferably different and chosen from a raffinate wash column or at least one raffinate wash drum. An apparatus for performing the methods is also described.

Method and apparatus for the purification of a hydrocarbon-containing stream

It has been discovered that para-xylene (PX) can be synthesized with improved selectivity by reacting an aromatic compound such as toluene and/or benzene with a reactant(s) from fuel syngas such as a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide and/or methanol,or methylating agents produced therefrom. The combination of the selective methylation technology and a source of fuel syngas creates several advantages including simplification of the selective methylation process and utilization of low cost feeds. The fuel syngas is used on a once-through basis.

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League City, TX, United States of America

Thomas J Waddick