Abstract: An alkylation process is described. The alkylation process includes contacting a feed comprising a paraffin or an aromatic with an olefin feed in the presence of a liquid Lewis acid catalyst in an alkylation reaction zone under alkylation conditions to form a reaction mixture comprising alkylation products and the liquid Lewis acid catalyst. The liquid Lewis acid catalyst is the liquid reaction product of a donor molecule and a metal halide. The alkylation products are separated from the liquid Lewis acid catalyst and recovered.

Abstract: A process of tuning a hydrocarbon product composition is described. The process involves selecting paraffins for reaction. The equilibrium constants for reactions of the selected paraffins can be used to select appropriate feed ratios, or an equilibrium composition as function of C/H molar ratio. A selected feed is reacted to obtain the product. Equilibrium product compositions and non-equilibrium product compositions can be obtained using the process.

Abstract: An alkylation process is described. The alkylation process includes contacting a feed comprising a paraffin or an aromatic with an olefin feed in the presence of a liquid Lewis acid catalyst in an alkylation reaction zone under alkylation conditions to form a reaction mixture comprising alkylation products and the liquid Lewis acid catalyst. The liquid Lewis acid catalyst is the liquid reaction product of a donor molecule and a metal halide. The alkylation products are separated from the liquid Lewis acid catalyst and recovered.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for converting methane in a feed stream to acetylene. The hydrocarbon stream is introduced into a supersonic reactor and pyrolyzed to convert at least a portion of the methane to acetylene. The reactor effluent stream may be treated to convert acetylene to a process stream having aromatic compounds. The acetylene stream can be reacted to generate larger hydrocarbon compounds, which are passed to a cyclization and aromatization reactor to generate aromatics. The method according to certain aspects includes controlling the level of carbon oxides in the hydrocarbon stream.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for converting methane in a feed stream to acetylene. The method includes processing the acetylene to form a hydrocarbon stream having vinyl chloride. The hydrocarbon stream is introduced into a supersonic reactor and pyrolyzed to convert at least a portion of the methane to acetylene. The reactor effluent stream is be treated to convert acetylene to other hydrocarbon processes. The method according to certain aspects includes controlling the level of carbon monoxide in the hydrocarbon stream to limit downstream side reactions in the downstream processing units.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for converting methane in a feed stream to acetylene. The method includes processing the acetylene to form a stream having acrylic acid. The hydrocarbon stream is introduced into a supersonic reactor and pyrolyzed to convert at least a portion of the methane to acetylene. The reactor effluent stream is be treated to convert acetylene to acrylic acid. The method according to certain aspects includes controlling the level of carbon monoxide to prevent undesired reactions in downstream processing units.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for converting methane in a feed stream to butanediol. The method includes processing acetylene as an intermediate stream to form a hydrocarbon stream including butanediol. A hydrocarbon stream is introduced into a supersonic reactor and pyrolyzed to convert at least a portion of the methane to acetylene. The reactor effluent stream is treated to convert acetylene to another hydrocarbon process. The method according to certain aspects includes controlling the level of carbon monoxide to prevent undesired reactions in downstream processing units.

Abstract: A process for selectively dealkylating aromatic compounds includes providing a coal tar stream comprising aromatic compounds and hydrotreating the coal tar stream to reduce a concentration of one or more of organic sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen in the coal tar stream, and to hydrogenate at least a portion of the aromatic compounds in the coal tar stream. The process further includes hydrocracking the hydrotreated coal tar stream to further hydrogenate the aromatic compounds and to crack at least one ring of multi-ring aromatic compounds to form single-ring aromatic compounds. The single-ring aromatic compounds present in the hydrocracked stream are then dealkylated to remove alkyl groups containing two or more carbon atoms.

Abstract: A process for transalkylating a coal tar stream is described. A coal tar stream is provided, and is fractionated to provide at least one hydrocarbon stream having polycyclic aromatics. The hydrocarbon stream is hydrotreated in a hydrotreating zone, and then hydrocracked in a hydrocracking zone. A light aromatics stream is added to the hydrocracking zone. The light aromatics stream comprises one or more light aromatics having a ratio of methyl/aromatic available position that is lower than a ratio of methyl/aromatic available position for the hydrotreated stream. The hydrocracked stream is transalkylated in the hydrocracking zone.

Abstract: A process for purifying at least one product from coal tar is described. The process involves separating a coal tar fraction having a boiling point in the range of about 180° C. to about 230° C. into an acidic portion and a non-acidic portion by contacting the fraction with a caustic compound. The acidic portion is separated into a cresol portion and a xylenol portion, and the non-acidic portion is separated into a naphthalene portion and a naphthalene co-boiler portion. The acidic portion and the non-acidic portions are separated by contacting with an adsorbent comprising small, discrete crystallites, the adsorbent having less than 10 wt % amorphous binder component. The various portions can be separated in a similar manner.

Abstract: A method of processing a coal feed to produce aromatic hydrocarbon compounds includes providing a coal tar stream and converting the coal tar stream to a conversion product comprising at least olefins, paraffins, and aromatics. The process further includes separating the olefins and C5? paraffins from the conversion product, and contacting the separated olefins and the C5? paraffins with a catalyst to dehydrogenize, oligomerize, and cyclize the olefins and the C5? paraffins, to form aromatic hydrocarbon compounds.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a new type of high performance polymer membranes prepared from aromatic polyimide membranes by thermal treating and crosslinking and methods for making and using these membranes. The polymer membranes were prepared from aromatic polyimide membranes by thermal treating under inert atmosphere followed by crosslinking preferably by using a UV radiation source. The aromatic polyimide membranes were made from aromatic polyimide polymers comprising both pendent hydroxy functional groups ortho to the heterocyclic imide nitrogen and cross-linkable functional groups in the polymer backbone. The membranes showed significantly improved selectivity and permeability for gas separations compared to the aromatic polyimide membranes without any treatment. The membranes can be fabricated into any convenient geometry and are not only suitable for a variety of liquid, gas, and vapor separations, but also can be used for other applications such as for catalysis and fuel cell applications.

Abstract: A process for transalkylating a coal tar stream is described. A coal tar stream is provided, and is fractionated to provide at least one hydrocarbon stream having polycyclic aromatics. The hydrocarbon stream is hydrotreated in a hydrotreating zone, and then hydrocracked in a hydrocracking zone. A light aromatics stream is added to the hydrocracking zone. The light aromatics stream comprises one or more light aromatics having a ratio of methyl/aromatic available position that is lower than a ratio of methyl/aromatic available position for the hydrotreated stream. The hydrocracked stream is transalkylated in the hydrocracking zone.

Abstract: A method of processing a coal feed to produce aromatic hydrocarbon compounds includes providing a coal tar stream and converting the coal tar stream to a conversion product comprising at least olefins, paraffins, and aromatics. The process further includes separating the olefins and C5? paraffins from the conversion product, and contacting the separated olefins and the C5? paraffins with a catalyst to dehydrogenize, oligomerize, and cyclize the olefins and the C5? paraffins, to form aromatic hydrocarbon compounds.

Abstract: A process for selectively dealkylating aromatic compounds includes providing a coal tar stream comprising aromatic compounds and hydrotreating the coal tar stream to reduce a concentration of one or more of organic sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen in the coal tar stream, and to hydrogenate at least a portion of the aromatic compounds in the coal tar stream. The process further includes hydrocracking the hydrotreated coal tar stream to further hydrogenate the aromatic compounds and to crack at least one ring of multi-ring aromatic compounds to form single-ring aromatic compounds. The single-ring aromatic compounds present in the hydrocracked stream are then dealkylated to remove alkyl groups containing two or more carbon atoms.

Abstract: A process for producing alkylated aromatic compounds includes pyrolyzing a coal feed to produce a coke stream and a coal tar stream. The coal tar stream is hydrotreated and the resulting hydrotreated coal tar stream is cracked. A portion of the cracked coal tar stream is separated to obtain a fraction having an initial boiling point in the range of about 60° C. to about 180° C., and an aromatics-rich hydrocarbon stream is extracted by contacting the fraction with one or more solvents. The aromatics-rich hydrocarbon stream is contacted with an alkylating agent to produce an alkylated aromatic stream, or the aromatics-rich hydrocarbon stream is reacted with an aliphatic compound or methanol in the presence of a catalyst to produce a methylated aromatic stream. The alkylated aromatic stream, the methylated aromatic stream, or both are separated into at least a benzene stream, a toluene stream, and a xylenes stream.

Abstract: A process for transalkylating a coal tar stream is described. A coal tar stream is provided, and is fractionated to provide at least one hydrocarbon stream having polycyclic aromatics. The hydrocarbon stream is hydrotreated in a hydrotreating zone, and then hydrocracked in a hydrocracking zone. A light aromatics stream is added to the hydrocracking zone. The light aromatics stream comprises one or more light aromatics having a ratio of methyl/aromatic available position that is lower than a ratio of methyl/aromatic available position for the hydrotreated stream. The hydrocracked stream is transalkylated in the hydrocracking zone.

Abstract: A process for selectively dealkylating aromatic compounds includes providing a coal tar stream comprising aromatic compounds and hydrotreating the coal tar stream to reduce a concentration of one or more of organic sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen in the coal tar stream, and to hydrogenate at least a portion of the aromatic compounds in the coal tar stream. The process further includes hydrocracking the hydrotreated coal tar stream to further hydrogenate the aromatic compounds and to crack at least one ring of multi-ring aromatic compounds to form single-ring aromatic compounds. The single-ring aromatic compounds present in the hydrocracked stream are then dealkylated to remove alkyl groups containing two or more carbon atoms.

Abstract: A process for converting polycyclic aromatic compounds to monocyclic aromatic compounds includes pyrolyzing a coal feed to produce a coke stream and a coal tar stream. The coal tar stream is cracked, and the cracked coal tar stream is fractionated to produce an aromatic fraction comprising the polycyclic aromatic compounds. The process further includes hydrocracking the aromatic fraction to partially hydrogenate at least a first portion of the aromatic fraction, and to open at least one ring of a second portion of the aromatic fraction to form the monocyclic aromatic compounds from the polycyclic compounds, and recycling the first portion of the aromatic fraction.

Abstract: A method of processing a coal feed to produce aromatic hydrocarbon compounds includes providing a coal tar stream and converting the coal tar stream to a conversion product comprising at least olefins, paraffins, and aromatics. The process further includes separating the olefins and C5? paraffins from the conversion product, and contacting the separated olefins and the C5? paraffins with a catalyst to dehydrogenize, oligomerize, and cyclize the olefins and the C5? paraffins, to form aromatic hydrocarbon compounds.