Process for co-production of mixed xylenes and high octane C9+ aromatics

A process for producing a mixed xylenes stream and a C9+ aromatic hydrocarbon stream, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) contacting an aromatic hydrocarbon feed with an alkylating agent feed in the presence of an alkylation catalyst under alkylation conditions to produce an alkylated aromatic product stream which comprises said mixed xylenes and of said C9+ aromatic hydrocarbons,
• wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises benzene and/or toluene, said alkylating agent comprises methanol and/or dimethyl ether, said alkylation catalyst comprises a molecular sieve having a Constraint Index in the range from greater than zero up to about 3 and alkylation conditions comprises a temperature of less than 500° C., and
• wherein the molar ratio of aromatic hydrocarbon feed to alkylating agent feed is in the range of greater than 1:1 to less than 4:1;
• (b) recovering streams comprising said mixed xylenes and said C9+ aromatic hydrocarbon from said alkylated aromatic product stream;
• (c) supplying said mixed xylenes stream to a xylenes isomerization unit to produce para-xylene;
• and
• (d) supplying said C9+ aromatic hydrocarbon stream to a separation unit to recover at least a C9 aromatic hydrocarbon stream, wherein said C9 aromatic hydrocarbon stream comprises a mixture of trimethylbenzenes and a mixture of ethylmethylbenzenes;
• (e) supplying said C9 aromatic hydrocarbon stream to a separation unit to recover a stream comprising said mixture of trimethylbenzenes and/or said stream comprising a mixture of ethylmethylbenzenes;
• and
• (f) supplying said stream comprising said mixture of trimethylbenzenes and/or said stream comprising a mixture of ethylmethylbenzenes as motor fuels blending component(s).