In a process for producing para-xylene, a feed stream comprising C.sub.6+ aromatic hydrocarbons is separated into a toluene-containing stream, a C.sub.8 aromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream and a C.sub.9+ aromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream. The toluene-containing stream is contacted with a methylating agent to convert toluene to xylenes and produce a methylated effluent stream. Para-xylene is recovered from the C.sub.8 aromatic hydrocarbon-containing stream and the methylated effluent stream in a para-xylene recovery section to produce a para-xylene depleted stream, which is then contacted with a xylene isomerization catalyst under liquid phase conditions effective to isomerize xylenes in the para-xylene depleted stream and produce an isomerized stream. The C.sub.9+-containing stream with a transalkylation catalyst under conditions effective to convert C.sub.9+-aromatics to C.sub.8−-aromatics and produce a transalkylated stream, which is recycled together with the isomerized stream to the para-xylene recovery section.

The present invention relates to a method for producing butadiene through an oxidative dehydrogenation reaction. The production method according to the present invention may easily regulate an input ratio between oxygen and nitrogen that are used as raw material, such that a loss may be minimized of butadiene that is included in a second fraction stream (purge stream) and discharged to outside of the system. Consequently, an economic competitiveness of the process, such as a reduced raw material cost and an improved productivity may be realized.

Many linear alpha olefin (LAO) syntheses form a range of LAO products when oligomerizing ethylene in the presence of a Ziegler-type catalyst. The range of products typically requires a plurality of distillation columns to separate the LAO products up to a desired carbon count, but such approaches may be energy- and capital-intensive. LAO product separation using at least one dividing wall column may lessen these burdens. Methods for separating LAOs may comprise: providing a pre-processed product stream comprising Cg+ linear alpha olefins (LAOS) to a first of a series of distillation columns, at least one member of the series of distillation columns comprising a dividing wall column; and separating an overhead stream comprising a first LAO from the dividing wall column and one or more side streams from the dividing wall column, each side stream comprising a different LAO that also differs from the first LAO.

Providing a method for generating and releasing 1-MCP gas from a complex carrier through the use of a 1-MCP generator that enables the application of at least one physical, releasing force to a carrier complex and/or mixture comprising water and the carrier complex, or the interaction of steam with a carrier complex and/or mixture comprising water and the carrier complex, over a determined period of time.

Providing a method for generating and releasing 1-MCP gas from a complex carrier through the use of a 1-MCP generator that enables the application of at least one physical, releasing force to a carrier complex and/or mixture comprising water and the carrier complex, or the interaction of steam with a carrier complex and/or mixture comprising water and the carrier complex, over a determined period of time.

Disclosed are systems and methods which provide a process stream comprising a gaseous component, capture the gaseous component from the process stream by an ionic liquid solvent of a separator, and recover a captured gaseous component from the ionic liquid solvent in a regenerator. A second gaseous component from the process stream may be captured by the ionic liquid solvent of the separator, and the second gaseous component may be recovered from the ionic liquid solvent in the regenerator. Alternatively, the second gaseous component from the process stream may be uncaptured by the ionic liquid solvent, and the uncaptured second gaseous component may be recovered from a membrane unit.

A method of producing aromatic hydrocarbons including: supplying a raw material stream to a C6 separation column, supplying an upper discharge stream from the C6 separation column to a first gasoline hydrogenation unit, and supplying a lower discharge stream from the C6 separation column to a C7 separation column; supplying an upper discharge stream from the C7 separation column to the first gasoline hydrogenation unit and supplying a lower discharge stream from the C7 separation column to a C8 separation column; separating benzene and toluene from a discharge stream from the first gasoline hydrogenation unit; removing a lower discharge stream from the C8 separation column and supplying an upper discharge stream from the C8 separation column to a second extractive distillation column; and separating styrene from a lower discharge stream from the second extractive distillation column and separating xylene from an upper discharge stream from the second extractive distillation column.

A process for the separation of a natural gas stream is provided. The process includes receiving an effluent gas flow from a first fractionator operating at a first pressure, splitting the effluent gas flow into a first stream and a second stream, and passing the first stream through a heat exchanger thereby causing a phase change of at least a portion of the first stream from a gaseous state to a liquid state. The process includes inserting the first stream into an upper portion of a second fractionator operating at a second pressure. The second pressure is lower than the first pressure. The process includes inserting the second stream into a lower portion of the second fractionator, and diverting liquids from a lower portion of the second fractionator to the first fractionator.

A method for producing para-xylene (PX) includes introducing a C.sub.8 aromatic-containing composition to a xylene rerun column to separate the C.sub.8 aromatic-containing composition into a xylene-containing effluent and a heavy effluent and passing the xylene-containing effluent to a PX processing loop that includes a PX recovery unit operable to separate a PX product from the xylene-containing effluent, a membrane isomerization unit operable to convert a portion of the MX, OX, or both from the xylene-containing effluent to PX, an EB dealkylation unit operable to dealkylate EB from the xylene-containing effluent to produce benzene, toluene, and other C.sub.7− compounds, and a membrane separation unit operable to produce a permeate that is PX-rich and a retentate that is PX-lean. The permeate is passed to the PX recovery unit for recovery of PX, which the retentate is bypassed around the PX recovery unit circulated through the xylene processing loop.

The present invention is a process for removing oxygenated contaminants from an ethylene stream comprising: a) providing a dried ethylene stream (A) comprising essentially ethylene, up to 1 w % oxygenates, ethane, CO, CO2, H2, CH4 and C3+ hydrocarbons, b) sending said stream (A) to a C2 splitter/deethanizer to produce a bottom stream comprising essentially ethane, oxygenates and C3+ hydrocarbons, an overhead comprising the remaining components, c) sending said overhead to a fixed bed CO2 adsorption zone to recover a stream essentially free of CO2, d) sending said stream essentially free of CO2 to a demethanizer/CO stripper to recover an overhead comprising H2, CH4 and CO, liquid ethylene at the bottoms. In another embodiment the CO2 removal step can be made on the recovered ethylene.