Processes Parex

Pareto chart Pareto charts Parex process... 

UOP s Parex Process UOP Sulfolane process UOP Udex Process Upilex UpilexR... 

D. B. Broughton and co-workers. The Separation of p-SCylenefrom C Hydrocarbon Mixtures by Parex Process, AIChE, Puerto Rico, May 1970. 

Liquid adsorption processes hold a prominent position ia several appHcations for the production of high purity chemicals on a commodity scale. Many of these processes were attractive when they were first iatroduced to the iadustry and continue to iacrease ia value as improvements ia adsorbents, desorbents, and process designs are made. The UOP Parex process alone has seen three generations of adsorbent and four generations of desorbent. Similarly, Hquid adsorption processes can be applied to a much more diverse range of problems than those presented ia Table 3. 

Njlene Separation. -Xylene is separated from mixed xylenes and ethylbenzene by means of the Parex process (Universal Oil Products Company). A proprietary adsorbent and process cycle are employed in a simulated moving-bed system. High purity -xylene is produced. 

Xylenes. The main appHcation of xylene isomers, primarily p- and 0-xylenes, is in the manufacture of plasticizers and polyester fibers and resins. Demands for xylene isomers and other aromatics such as benzene have steadily been increasing over the last two decades. The major source of xylenes is the catalytic reforming of naphtha and the pyrolysis of naphtha and gas oils. A significant amount of toluene and Cg aromatics, which have lower petrochemical value, is also produced by these processes. More valuable p- or 0-xylene isomers can be manufactured from these low value aromatics in a process complex consisting of transalkylation, eg, the Tatoray process and Mobil s toluene disproportionation (M lDP) and selective toluene disproportionation (MSTDP) processes isomerization, eg, the UOP Isomar process (88) and Mobil s high temperature isomerization (MHTI), low pressure isomerization (MLPI), and vapor-phase isomerization (MVPI) processes (89) and xylene isomer separation, eg, the UOP Parex process (90). 

UOP s Parex Process can be used to purify -xylene by adsorption (38). Toray has a similar process. These processes take advantage of the fact that %xylene is adsorbed more easily than the other Cg aromatics by a suitable molecular sieve. The -xylene is desorbed by either a lighter or heavier hydrocarbon which is subsequently removed by distillation. -Xylene is recovered in about 97% yield (see Adsorption). 

Since the early 1970s p-xylene has grown to become a large volume petrochemical. It is used primarily for the production of polyester fibers, films and resins, such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) [7]. Demand for p-xylene has increased tenfold since 1970 to about 26xl0 t/year. Almost all of this additional production has been by the UOP Parex process as shown in Figure 7.1. A baseline production ofp-xylene is maintained by crystallization based sites that existed before the SMB adsorptive separation technology was established [8]. 

The aromatics complex converts approximately 75% of the feed naphtha to petrochemical aromatics with the vast majority of the remainder being exported as raffinate and some hydrogen. With a modern aromatics complex flowscheme, a little over half of the mixed xylenes are produced in the Tatoray unit while the rest are produced in the CCR Platforming unit directly from the naphtha reforming. Having reviewed the framework of an aromatics complex we are now in a better position to understand the context of the continuous countercurrent liquid adsorptive Parex process which produces the primary aromatics complex product, p-xylene. 

The faujasite zeolite in the UOP Parex process has some finite affinity for aU the aromatic species in the mixed xylene feed, indicated by the fact that selectivities between the components are typically less than five. Because the adsorbent has the tendency to adsorb all aromatic species in the feed to some extent, the fundamental variable dictating the adsorption zone operation is the ratio of zeolitic selective pore volume circulated past the feedpoint by the stepping action of the rotary valve per the volume of aromatics conveyed to the adsorption chambers. Typically this ratio is set to obtain a certain target recovery of p-xylene. 

The Parex and MX Sorbex processes are quite similar with regard to the adsorbent section mechanics so all of the discussion about the functional zones in the section for the Parex process applies to the MX Sorbex process also. The MX Sorbex process produces m-xylene at 99.5-99.8% purity at a recovery in excess of 95%. The major differences between the two technologies are the choice of adsorbent and desorbent... 

Major commercial processes in n-paraffin separation are U.O.P. s Molex process (2-5), B.P. s process (6-8), Exxon s Ensorb process (9, 10), Union Carbide s IsoSiv process (11-13), Texaco s T.S.F. process (14, 15), Shell s process (16), and VEB Leuna Werke s Parex process (17). Except... 

Xylene Separation-U.O.P. s Parex Process. The continued rapid increase in the p-xylene demand as a raw material for polyester products in... 

Olefin Separation. U.O.P. s Olex Process. U.O.P. s other hydrocarbon separation process developed recently—i.e., the Olex process—is used to separate olefins from a feedstock containing olefins and paraffins. The zeolite adsorbent used, according to patent literature 29, 30), is a synthetic faujasite with 1-40 wt % of at least one cation selected from groups I A, IIA, IB, and IIB. The Olex process is also believed to use the same simulated moving-bed operation in liquid phase as U.O.P. s other hydrocarbon separation processes—i.e., the Molex and Parex processes. 

The DMDOHEMA flowsheet was first adapted from that of DMDBTDMA thanks to the PAREX process simulator code, and inactive countercurrent tests have been performed in mixer-settlers. Nitric acidity was decreased from 3.5 to 3 M in the... 

Today the melt crystallization can be advantageously replaced by a more challenging separation method known as simulated moving bed (SMB) technology. The method exploits the differences in affinity of zeolitic adsorbents for p-xylene with respect to other A8 components. Despite the name, the adsorbent phase is stationary and only fluid phase is distributed in a cyclic manner by a multivalve system. Operation parameters are temperatures of 125 to 200 °C and pressures up to 15 bar. Lighter (toluene) or heavier solvents (p-diethylbenzene) may be used as a desorbent. The Parex process working on this principle today has many applications. 

The Parex and MX-Sorbex processes are both members of UOP s family of Sorbex processes. The MX-Sorbex process for the separation of high-purity meta-xylene was introduced in 1998. Five MX-Sorbex units were commercialized between 1998 and 2001. The market for meta-xylene is expected to grow to 800,000 metric tons per year by 2009 (23). The Parex process was introduced in 1971 for the separation of para-xylene, and 71 units were commercialized by 2001. 

Application To produce a desired xylene isomer (or isomers) from a mixture of C8 aromatics using the UOP Isomar and Parex processes. 

To obtain oiehns in the pure state, intended for other uses than alkylation (oxo synthesis, alkyl sulfates), ffiey can be separated by selective and leversiUe adsorption on sc ds. UOP employs a tedinique designated Olex , whidi is similar in principle to that of its Molex and Parex processes. 

Fig. 4.16. Operating principle of UOP Parex process for the manufacture of p-xylene.

The Parex process can handle feeds from different sources Cg cut from solvent extraction, mixture of Cg aromatics from extraction and from isomerization in fbc... 

Table 4.9 provides an example of the performance of the Parex process for Cg cuts from extraction and reforming. 

Liquid Phase Separation. UOP have pioneered several small-scale processes to fractionate mixtures of liquids. The Parex process was introduced in 1971 and by 2001 71 units were running conunercially. The MX-Sorbex process was introduced in 1998 and so far 5 units have been commerciahzed. Very recently, in 2001, UOP introduced a new Sorbex process, MaxEne, to increase the ethlene yield from Naphtha Crackers. Examples of these are listed in Table 30. 

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