Disclosed herein are processes for producing and separating ethane and ethylene. In some embodiments, an oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) product gas comprising ethane and ethylene is introduced to a separation unit comprising two separators. Within the separation unit, the OCM product gas is separated to provide a C.sub.2-rich effluent, a methane-rich effluent, and a nitrogen-rich effluent. Advantageously, in some embodiments the separation is achieved with little or no external refrigeration requirement.

This invention relates to a process for treatment of a gasoline that comprises diolefins, olefins and sulfur-containing compounds including mercaptans, consisting of a stage for treatment of the gasoline in a distillation column (2) comprising at least one reaction zone (3) including at least one catalyst that makes it possible to carry out the addition of mercaptans to the olefins that are contained in the gasoline that distills toward the top of the catalytic column.

An HF olefin/isoparaffin alkylation process is carried out in an alkylation unit with a settling vessel in which the alkylate product is separated from the HF acid catalyst containing water and acid soluble oil (ASO). The density of the liquids in the settling vessel is measured at different levels by means of a nuclear density profile analyzer. The acid strength of the acid phase is determined from the density measurement and an optional temperature measurement. The proportion of water in the acid phase may also be measured separately by measurement of its electrical conductivity to determine the respective contributions of the water and the ASO to the density of the HF acid phase.

A process and system for the production of at least one xylene isomer is provided. The process includes passing a first stream to one side of a split shell fractionation column and a second stream to the other side of the column. The first stream has a higher ratio of methyl to C2+ alkyl-substituted C9 aromatic compounds than the second stream. A bottoms stream from the one side is separated and passed as feed to a transalkylation zone.

Methods of inhibiting corrosion in a benzene distillation or dryer unit are provided wherein alkenyl succinic acids or anhydrides (ASA) are brought into contact with metal surfaces thereby protecting the metal from an acidic corrosive medium flowing through the overhead. The benzene distillation column or drying tower may be utilized to purify benzene for subsequent feed of the purified benzene to an alkylation process such as in the alkylation of benzene by ethene to form ethylbenzene utilizing a zeolite alkylation catalyst.

The present disclosure relates to a process for preparing linear alkyl benzne (LAB). The process comprises alkylation of benzene with an alkylating agent in the presence of an ionic liquid to obtain a first product mixture comprising a first organic phase and a first aqueous phase comprising first partially spent ionic liquid. The first organic phase is deacidified and fractionally distilled to obtain a fraction comprising LAB and a fraction comprising HAB. The fraction comprising HAB is transalkylated with benzene in the presence of the ionic liquid to obtain a second product mixture comprising a second organic phase comprising LAB and a second aqueous phase comprising second partially spent ionic liquid. The partially spent ionic liquids are regenerated, and reused in the steps of alkylation or transalkylation for at least 6 cycles.

The present invention relates to an integrated process for increasing the research octane number (RON) of FCC gasoline with simultaneous reduction in benzene content. In this process, benzene rich gasoline fraction is reacted with light olefin rich gaseous streams like FCC off gas/dry gas, coker off gas to produce alkyl aromatics using FCC catalyst system containing ZSM-5 zeolite. The catalyst is continuously drawn from the FCC regenerator by suitably placing the alkylation reactor in communication with the FCC regenerator. The product stream of the alkylation reactor is routed to main fractionator for separation of off gas and benzene lean gasoline. This integrated process not only improves the octane number of gasoline but also lowers the gasoline benzene content. Further the integrated alkylation reactor system acts as a heat sink lowering the FCC regenerator temperature and enables the FCC unit to process high CCR feeds.

The invention relates to a method of making a reinforced catalytic microporous and/or mesoporous bound composition comprising the steps of: providing a pre-formed catalytic crystalline material; mixing the catalytic crystalline material with water, a metal oxide binder, and a reinforcing glass fiber to form an extrudable composition; extruding the extrudable slurry under conditions sufficient to form the reinforced catalytic bound extrudate; and calcining the reinforced catalytic bound extrudate at a temperature and for a time sufficient to form a calcined reinforced catalytic bound catalyst. Advantageously, the reinforcing glass fiber can have a diameter from 5-100 microns and a length-to-diameter ratio from 300:1-3000:1 and can be present in an amount from about 1-50 parts, based on about 1000 parts combined of catalytic crystalline material and metal oxide binder.

We provide a process for regenerating a spent acidic ionic liquid, comprising contacting the spent acidic ionic liquid with hydrogen and without an addition of a hydrogenation catalyst; wherein a conjunct polymer content is decreased in the spent acidic ionic liquid to produce regenerated acidic ionic liquid. We also provide a process for making an alkylate gasoline blending component, comprising: a) alkylating a mixture of isoparaffins and olefins using an acidic ionic liquid and an alkyl halide or a hydrogen halide, wherein a conjunct polymer accumulates in a spent acidic ionic liquid; and b) feeding the spent acidic ionic liquid and a hydrogen, and without an addition of a hydrogenation catalyst, to a regeneration reactor operated under selected hydrogenation conditions to produce a regenerated acidic ionic liquid that is used for the alkylating, wherein the conjunct polymer in the regenerated acidic ionic liquid is decreased by at least 50 wt %.

Systems, processes, and catalysts are disclosed for obtaining fuels and fuel blends containing selected ratios of open-chain and closed-chain fuel-range hydrocarbons suitable for production of alternate fuels including gasolines, jet fuels, and diesel fuels. Fuel-range hydrocarbons may be derived from ethylene-containing feedstocks and ethanol-containing feedstocks.