The invention relates to a process for combined ethylbenzene reforming and xylene isomerisation comprising contacting a hydrocarbon feedstock containing ethylbenzene and xylene with a catalyst comprising a catalyst carrier and one or more metal(s) supported on the catalyst carrier, wherein the catalyst carrier is an extrudate comprising (i) a ZSM-48 and/or EU-2 type zeolite and (ii) an alumina binder, the extrudate having a shape with a C/A value of at least 3, where C is the circumference of the extrudate and A is the cross-sectional area of the extrudate. The metal may be platinum and the alumina may be a wide-pore alumina. The process displays high conversion rates whilst maintaining low levels of side-product formation.

Processes are described for isomerizing one or more C.sub.4-C.sub.24 alpha olefins to produce an isomerization mixture comprising one or more C.sub.4-C.sub.24 internal olefins comprising contacting an olefinic feed comprising the one or more C.sub.4-C.sub.24 alpha olefins with a catalyst under isomerization conditions, wherein the catalyst comprises a microporous crystalline aluminosilicate selected from the group consisting of ZSM-5, ZSM-23, ZSM-35, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-48, ZSM-57, and mixtures or combinations thereof, and wherein the microporous crystalline aluminosilicate has a SiO.sub.2/Al.sub.2O.sub.3 molar ratio of less than or equal to about 100. The resulting isomerization mixture typically exhibits a lower pour point and maintained biodegradability properties as compared to the olefinic feed, and is particularly useful in drilling fluid and paper sizing compositions.

A process for aromatizing hydrocarbons comprises: converting at least a portion of highly branched hydrocarbons in a feed stream into selectively convertible components, and aromatizing the selectively convertible components to produce an aromatization reactor effluent. The aromatization reactor effluent comprises an aromatic product. Converting at least the portion of the highly branched hydrocarbons into the selectively convertible components may include contacting the feed stream with an isomerization catalyst in an isomerization reaction system under isomerization reaction conditions; and isomerizing the portion of the highly branched hydrocarbons in the feed stream into the selectively convertible components.

The present invention relates to a process of producing a metal-containing catalyst. The process involves mixing a support material with one or more metals in a solution to produce a catalyst comprising a metal-loaded support. The catalyst comprising a metal-loaded support is treated with an atmosphere comprising 0.01 to 100% carbon-containing agents and 0-100% hydrogen at a temperature of 50 to 500° C. to produce a treated metal-containing catalyst on a support. Also disclosed is the resulting treated metal-containing catalyst and its use in a process for converting propane to propylene.

Provided is an improved process for olefin oligomerization allowing one to realize superior selectivity. The process comprises contacting a hydrocarbon feed comprised of straight and branched chain olefins under oligomerization conditions with a catalyst comprising delaminated SSZ-70. The delaminated SSZ-70 offers a zeolite layer with a single unit cell of thickness in one dimension, allowing for elimination of mass transfer in comparison with regular SSZ-70. The result is superior selectivity.

The invention relates to a process for combined ethylbenzene reforming and xylene isomerisation comprising contacting a hydrocarbon feedstock containing ethylbenzene and xylene with a catalyst comprising a catalyst carrier and one or more metal(s) supported on the catalyst carrier, wherein the catalyst carrier is an extrudate comprising (i) a ZSM-48 and/or EU-2 type zeolite and (ii) an alumina binder, the extrudate having a shape with a C/A value of at least 3, where C is the circumference of the extrudate and A is the cross-sectional area of the extrudate. The metal may be platinum and the alumina may be a wide-pore alumina. The process displays high conversion rates whilst maintaining low levels of side-product formation.

The present application pertains to family of new crystalline molecular sieves designated SSZ-94. Molecular sieve SSZ-94 is structurally similar to sieves falling within the MTT structure type such as SSZ-32x, SSZ-32, ZSM-23, EU-13, ISI-4, and KZ-1 family of molecular sieves. SSZ-94 is characterized as having magnesium.

This invention relates to process for producing biphenyl esters, the process comprising: (a) contacting a feed comprising toluene, xylene or mixtures thereof with hydrogen in the presence of a hydroalkylation catalyst to produce a hydroalkylation reaction product comprising (methylcyclohexyl)toluene, wherein the hydroalkylation catalyst comprises: 1) binder present at 40 wt % or less (based upon weight of final catalyst composition), 2) a hydrogenation component present at 0.2 wt % or less (based upon weight of final catalyst composition), and 3) an acidic component comprising a molecular sieve having a twelve membered (or larger) ring pore opening, channel or pocket and a largest pore dimension of 6.0 angstroms or more present at 60 wt % or more, (based upon weight of final catalyst composition); (b) dehydrogenating the hydroalkylation reaction product using a dehydrogenation catalyst to produce a dehydrogenation reaction product comprising a mixture of methyl-substituted biphenyl compounds; (c) contacting at the dehydrogenation reaction product with an oxidizing gas to convert the methyl-substituted biphenyl compounds to biphenyl carboxylic acids; and (d) reacting the biphenyl carboxylic acids with one or more C.sub.1 to C.sub.14 alcohols to produce biphenyl esters.

Disclosed are processes for conversion of a feedstock comprising C.sub.8+ aromatic hydrocarbons to lighter aromatic products in which the feedstock and optionally hydrogen are contacted in the presence of the catalyst composition under conversion conditions effective to dealkylate and transalkylate said C.sub.8+ aromatic hydrocarbons to produce said lighter aromatic products comprising benzene, toluene and xylene. The catalyst composition comprises a zeolite, a first metal, and a second metal, and is treated with a source of sulfur and/or a source of steam.

Disclosed is a hydroalkylation process in which the hydroalkylation catalyst is activated in the presence of a flowing fluid comprising hydrogen and a condensable agent. The presence of the condensable agent enables fast, effective activation of the hydroalkylation catalyst precursor in a cost-effective manner. It also yields superior catalyst performance.